


Just for Now

by Selah



Category: Jrock, 己龍 | Kiryuu
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-03-29 00:10:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3875125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selah/pseuds/Selah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Junji loves his bandmates. Except for when he wants to strangle them. Nothing stays the same forever, even the things we wish would remain unchanged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It was just supposed to be a short and sweet Junji/Mahiro drabble and then things got a bit out of hand. May or may not be finished with this thing, I'm still poking at what's currently the last chapter, in between everything else.

There had been something a little … off in Mahiro’s smile all day, but Junji hadn’t been able to figure out just what it was. Tiredness, maybe? He kept meaning to ask if Mahiro was okay, but somehow the words had kept not coming. Which was ridiculous, since it was a simple question, and yet....

Maybe he should have recognized the danger sooner. Maybe he was a bit overly tired himself. When Mahiro announced he was going for a shower, Junji just nodded, flopping onto his bed in the hotel room and flicking on the TV. He was completely unprepared for the sudden lapful of naked Mahiro or the urgent kiss being pressed to his lips.

“M-Mahi....”

“Just shut up and kiss me,” Mahiro muttered before kissing him again. Uncertain hands settled on the vocalist’s bare hips as he gave in to the kiss. The weirdness of never doing this before faded as the kisses continued, not so different from kissing a woman. Except Mahiro was aggressive where the women Junji had dated in the past had tended towards passivity. The vocalist’s fingers tangled in his hair, tugging his head back as questing lips slid from his and down his throat. That may have been a mistake, he realized too late, a reminder that the body in his lap belonged to his friend. His very naked, very male friend.

“Mahi.... Mahi, stop...,” he mumbled, gently pushing at the other man’s shoulders. Teeth nipped at his throat briefly and then Mahiro was pulling back, frowning at him.

“What?”

“Mahi … what are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Mahiro countered. But when he leaned forward, Junji held him back.

“I mean it, Mahiro.”

“You’re so stiff sometimes, you know that?” his lapful huffed, though he made no sign that he meant to move any time soon. “It’s just a little fooling around while we’re stuck on the road. Not like you’re even dating anyone right now, right?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Isn’t it?” his friend countered, fingers brushing along Junji’s cheek. “How long has it been? And don’t tell me that isn’t the point, either.”

“Mahiro.... It doesn’t matter, and it _isn’t_ the point. Weren’t you going for a shower?”

Mahiro’s eyes narrowed, a tingle of danger skittering down Junji’s spine at the way the vocalist was looking at him. He didn’t entirely trust that look, didn’t like the way it made him feel. Like he was being judged for something and not quite measuring up to expectation. He didn’t feel any better when Mahiro huffed and slid off his lap. Maybe things would make more sense in the morning? He could only hope.

~*~*~

Mahiro was already packed and out of the room by the time Junji woke the next morning. He wasn’t quite sure what to think of that, except that it couldn’t be a good thing. Sighing, he rushed through a shower, then packed up his own things. He wasn’t terribly surprised to find his bandmates gathered in the hotel lobby, Mitsuki greeting him with an offered cup of coffee and a scone from Starbucks.

“My hero,” he teased softly, chuckling as he settled on a couch next to him. “I didn’t think I was running behind this morning?”

“You’re not, not really. Mahi came and woke me up early and dragged me to Starbucks with him, though yours should still be warm enough. I don’t know what Negi and Hiyorin’s excuses are.”

“Early to bed and early to rise makes Kujou-san healthy, wealthy, and wise~!” their leader chirped, breaking into laughter almost before he could finish. Junji rolled his eyes, deciding it didn’t matter as he sipped his mocha. Ah, just the right temperature.

He was still nursing both coffee and blueberry scone when they were herded into their van for the day’s traveling. Mahiro had pushed Mitsuki to the back bench and was now using the redhead as a pillow while Takemasa claimed shotgun. Junji didn’t really care, plugging headphones into his laptop. Something about last night’s live had been nagging at him in his sleep and as long as they had the time, he wanted to go over the disk, see if he couldn’t figure out what it was. If it was even anything at all.

~*~*~

Junji didn’t really think anything of it when he found himself rooming with Hiyori that night. After all, they switched who was rooming with whom all the time. And any of his bandmates made better roommates than their snoring manager. An opinion he found himself revising when he woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of ragged panting and low moans and Hiyori begging for more. They didn’t even have the decency to stop when they heard him moving in his own bed, trying to burrow under the pillows to block them out, though at least they didn’t drag things out either. But it was still miserable and the next morning he couldn’t quite look at either of them without blushing.

“Ne Juju,” Mitsuki murmured into his ear, catching him from behind. Junji blushed hotly, feeling more than a little embarrassed for having flinched when he first felt arms around him. “As cute as you look blushing, it’s a bit unusual for you, na? What’s up?”

“N-nothing, nothing,” he stammered, not sure if the redhead knew about Hiyori and Takemasa. If he did, then fine, but if he didn’t, well, it wasn’t really something Junji had the right to share. “Bad sleep.”

“Bad sleep? Hmm, you were in with Hiyorin last night and I know he doesn’t snore, so … oh, did Negi come to visit?” Mitsuki asked, chuckling lowly. “Hiyorin is terrible at the be quiet game.”

Junji twisted around to gape up at Mitsuki for a moment before shaking his head. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so surprised, the way Hiyori and Takemasa acted around each other, but at the same time, well, it was supposed to just be fanservice, right? Only natural that their most perverted member should be all over their designated girl player. Of course he hadn’t thought anything more about it.

“Wait, how did you find out?”

“About Negi and Hiyorin? They’ve been together awhile now. That and I was rooming with Hiyorin at the beginning of the tour. Woke me out of a sound sleep. I was thinking about getting him a ball gag for his birthday, but I’m not sure it’d help.”

Rolling his eyes, Junji stepped free from the redhead’s loose hold. He really didn’t want to be thinking about Hiyorin having sex with Takemasa, with a ball gag or without. It made him feel weird, uncomfortable even, and he didn’t need that. Though maybe he would pick up some earplugs if he was going to have to share a room with either of them again on this tour. Once was bad enough, he didn’t think he could handle a repeat dose.

~*~*~

Going out together after the live had sounded like a good idea at the time. Now that Junji found himself responsible for making sure Mahiro and Mitsuki made it back to the hotel in one piece – on his own, of course – he was wondering which gods he had offended that this was his punishment. At least they were both friendly drunks? Who kept wandering off and getting distracted by shiny things. And even some not so shiny things. The promise of a reward if they would stop running off seemed to work, at least well enough that he was able to get them back to the hotel without too much more difficulty, bringing them both back to his room since he was supposed to be rooming with Mitsuki anyway.

“So what’s our reward?” Mahiro purred, sidling up to him and winding arms around his waist. “Kitten’s been good. Kitten wants a good reward.”

“Your reward is … is spending the night here,” he said. He hadn’t had anything in mind, really, hoping to get them to pass out quickly so they would forget about it. How silly of him, he really should have known better. When did things in his life ever go according to plan anyway?

“... that’s not a very good reward,” Mahiro said, pouting at him.

“Yeah, ‘specially when I was already your roommate. Stingy Juju,” Mitsuki added, pouting at him from the foot of one of the two beds. Because of course the two of them would be ganging up on him like this. Time to improvise, he supposed.

“Fine, your reward is Starbucks in the morning, that better?” he said, hoping that would be sufficient. Starbucks was always a good bribe for Mitsuki, though he was less sure how well it would work on Mahiro.

“But I want a reward _now_ ,” Mahiro said, still pouting at him. He should have seen this coming, he supposed.

“I don’t have anything to give you right now, greedy kitty.”

“Oh now that’s not true,” the vocalist countered, smirking up at him. That look could only be trouble and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to give Mahiro any more rope by asking what the other man meant. He squeaked, blushing hotly as soon as the noise left his lips, when his friend suddenly shoved a hand down the front of his pants.

“Mahiro!!”

“Kitten wants a _good_ reward. Kitten wants _this_ reward~” the singer trilled, grinning brightly as only a drunk could. “Pretty Juju owes me, Pretty Juju _promised_ a reward.”

“Not that,” he muttered, tugging on Mahiro’s wrist. Of course, he had been so focused on Mahiro that he hadn’t noticed Mitsuki moving until he felt a hand close on his wrist, warm breath washing against his neck.

“If Junji doesn’t have anything else to pay with, I think his body will do nicely,” the guitarist behind him murmured, lips brushing against the side of his neck. Junji stiffened briefly, then forced himself free from grasping hands.

“Someone’s been watching too much porn,” he muttered, checking his pockets to make sure he had both his room key and his phone. “Just … stay here, don’t go wandering off, all right?” he said, glancing sidelong at his two friends before shaking his head and making for the door. Mitsuki caught him again just as he was reaching for the doorknob, but it felt different this time. And when he looked at the guitarist, he was surprised by the clarity in his eyes.

“Are you running away because of what he wants? Or because it’s Mahi asking for it?” Mitsuki asked softly, sounding completely sober again. Had his best friend seriously just been messing with him this whole time, pretending to be drunk? For what possible reason??

“Is it that weird to think that maybe, just maybe, I might actually be straight?” Junji muttered, careful to stand so Mahiro couldn’t see him. He didn’t think their kitty could read lips even sober, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. Mahiro was already in enough of a mood without him accidentally making it worse.

“All right, all right,” Mitsuki soothed, letting go of his wrist to squeeze his shoulder gently, smiling softly. “I noticed earlier, there’s a combini two blocks up from the hotel that ought to have Starbucks ice cream. That should soothe his bruised ego. That and cuddles, but I can deal with those, okay? Caramel Macchiato if they have it, or else Java Chip.”

“Starbucks ice cream, caramel macchiato got it,” he said, nodding. He felt a little bit guilty for upsetting Mahiro like this, but what else could he say? He liked Mahiro, even loved him a bit, like family, but that was as far as it went. As far as it would ever go.

He was actually surprised to see that both Mitsuki and Mahiro were still awake when he got back with the requested ice cream. Junji had been quite sure at least one of them would have fallen asleep before he could return, it was why he had only picked up one pint and two spoons. They were stretched out together on one of the beds, watching something on the television, though as soon as Mahiro saw him he started pouting again.

“Try not to eat the whole thing yourself, kitty,” he mock scolded as he handed over the pint of ice cream and plastic spoons. “I don’t want to listen to you moaning all night about a tummy ache.”

“I won’t,” Mahiro chirped, sitting up and making grabby hands at the extended pint of ice cream. Whatever Mitsuki had said to Mahiro while Junji had been out, it seemed to have worked and for that he was grateful.

~*~*~

He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the sight of Mahiro standing on his doorstep, dressed up like Hatsune Miku, complete with a long blue wig.

“... Mahi, if you’re looking for sensei, he’s not here.”

“Oh I know,” Mahiro said, pushing past him and into his apartment. “He’s buying drinks.”

“... why?” he asked, following his unexpected guest into the lounge.

“Because of course we aren’t going to just come over and not bring food and drinks~” Mahiro chirped, sitting on his couch with the biggest grin on his face.

“Funny, I don’t see any food on you. Or is sensei bringing that, too?”

“We ordered pizza, of course.” Because of course. Well, ask a silly question, he supposed. So he was probably going to regret his next one, but he had to know.

“And the Miku cosplay?”

“Do you like it?” his friend asked, bouncing up from the couch to pirouette in place for him. That wasn’t an answer, but then again, it was Mahiro.

“It looks cute on you, but why are you wearing it, Mahi?” he asked, sitting down on the couch.

“I lost a bet,” Mahiro said, shrugging and then helping himself to Junji’s lap. Chuckling and shaking his head, Junji gave up on getting anything more specific from his silly friend, arms lightly settling about Mahiro’s waist. Just to keep him from falling off, of course. Though he almost needn’t have bothered, since a moment later there was a knock at his door and Mahiro was off his lap like a shot. He was back before Junji could make up his mind whether he should get up or not, a grinning Mitsuki bearing pizza and a combini bag behind him.

“Hey Juju~”

“Hey sensei. So, to what do I owe this invasion?”

“We’re not disrupting plans, are we?” Mitsuki asked, a frown briefly marring his features. “Mahi lost a bet and he figured as long as he had to go out in his Miku cosplay it might be nice to surprise you with dinner?”

“No, no plans, you’re fine there, I was just surprised,” Junji said, clearing his coffee table so Mitsuki could set down the pizza. Inwardly, he was relieved when the drinks turned out to be two sodas and a beer that Mitsuki was already pushing into his hands. His friends could be such lightweights when it came to alcohol and while he didn’t necessarily mind dealing with them drunk, he would prefer not. Fortunately, after the tour incident, it seemed like they had been taking extra care to see to it that he didn’t have to do that again.

“I also brought a movie,” Mitsuki said, holding up the DVD case. Junji didn’t recognize the title, but from the case, it looked like some sort of horror flick. He quirked an eyebrow at Mitsuki, wondering at the choice. Not like he had a problem with horror movies, but it seemed like an odd choice, considering how creeped out by them Mahiro could be.

“Mahi’s been wanting to watch it for months, but he won’t watch it alone. I figure with two of us, the big chicken should be fine.”

“Oi!” Mahiro protested, though he was laughing as well. 

“So I should keep the running commentary about stupid high school girls to myself?” Junji teased, helping himself to a slice of pizza while Mitsuki set up the movie.

“Yes, I _like_ being scared, your comments would just ruin the experience.”

“But these movies are always so stupid, using the flimsiest possible excuses for why the characters do the stupid things they do.”

“So exactly like real people,” Mitsuki added, joining them on the couch. Mahiro laughed, moving to lean against the redhead, and once again Junji wondered why they were visiting him. Since finding out about Takemasa and Hiyori on tour, he had been noticing more and more how close Mitsuki and Mahiro had been acting lately. If he thought about it too much, he’d start feeling left out, so most of the time he tried not to notice, but times like this it could be hard to ignore.

So he was a bit taken aback when Mitsuki suddenly tucked an arm around him and tugged him close. He wasn’t going to protest, though, finishing his pizza slice before settling against him some more. Maybe he had been reading too much into things? He probably would have still been ignorant of the change in relations between Takemasa and Hiyori if he hadn’t woken up to the two of them having sex on the tour. Mahiro had always been extra affectionate with all of them, it wasn’t like that had really changed. Maybe it was just his head playing games with him, making him think there was something more between his two friends? Distracting thoughts that made it hard to get lost in the movie. Though perhaps that was just as well, since Mahiro was squeaking and flinching and pressing his face into Mitsuki’s arm enough for two high school girls. Junji was starting to wonder just how much of the movie his friend was even watching before they were even halfway finished. He didn’t think it was even that scary, but whatever.

“All right, well, as much fun as this has been, kids,” Mitsuki said as the end credits rolled, “I should get going.”

“But … but we just got here!” Mahiro protested, pouting even as Mitsuki got up from the couch.

“You can stay if you want, kitten, but I have to get up early in the morning.”

“Actually,” Junji interjected, before either of them got too much more carried away with him, “I should be going to bed about now, too. If you guys want to stay the night, I don’t mind, but I’m gonna hit the shower now.”

It was perhaps bad manners to be taking a shower when there was every chance one or both of his guests was about to leave, but it wasn’t like he really needed to see either of them out. If either of them even decided to leave, which he didn’t really expect from them. Mitsuki had stayed over enough times to know the trick to unfolding the couch into bunk beds, though now that he was thinking about it, he didn’t think they’d actually used them more than maybe once. His own bed was big enough that sharing wasn’t really an issue – and on cold nights, Mitsuki was the perfect portable heat source – it had been more a matter of wanting to show off the cool new purchase.

He was more than a little surprised, though, to walk into his bedroom and find both Mitsuki and Mahiro in his bed already. He wasn’t entirely sure all three of them could fit in his bed. For that matter, he was a little disturbed by how quickly the two had helped themselves to his bed. 

“Um, guys....”

“What?” Mahiro asked, his face wearing an unbelievably innocent expression. “You _said_ we could spend the night, Juju.”

“... this isn’t what I had in mind,” he said, frowning slightly before going to his closet. If he had known they were going to invade his bed, he would have grabbed clean underwear before his shower. Now it was just awkward.

“It’ll be warmer this way, though,” Mahiro said, happily ignoring Junji’s discomfort. “And we don’t have to fiddle with the couch.”

“Which has nothing to do with anything, he just wants to be sure that the things in the dark have us to attack before they can get him,” Mitsuki said, chuckling. 

“Make it sound like I’d sacrifice you two just to save my own skin,” Mahiro protested, pouting at Mitsuki. Junji took the opening to make a quick change from towel to boxers,

“I’m sure you’d feel bad about it later,” Mitsuki said, trying to soothe their vocalist. “So I guess it’s a good thing there’s nothing in the night that’s going to come after us~”

“You say that, but we all know the world is full of weirdos, psychos, and angry ghosts bent on murder.”

“I can guarantee there are no angry murdering ghosts in this apartment, Mahi,” Junji said, turning off the lights before sliding into the space left for him in his bed. Almost immediately, Mahiro was snuggling up to him, bare skin to bare skin.

“I’ll be sure to remind you that you said that if any turn up in the middle of the night,” the singer teased, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. It felt a little weird to be sharing his bed like this, but what else could he do? Subtle suggestion hadn’t worked and he couldn’t just kick them out. It wasn’t in his nature. Just like it wasn’t in his nature to wear pajamas to bed, regardless of whether or not there was anyone else in it. Though with two other people sharing his bed, he wasn’t exactly worried about not being warm enough, either. As long as Mahiro kept his hands in the safe zone, he supposed he couldn’t really fight this. But the minute those hands started wandering, he’d take the couch himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Junji was, in a word, exhausted. The live had, of course, been completely awesome and amazing … and now that he was finally back at the hotel, all he wanted to do was sleep. So of course his roommate had to sprawl on top of him.

“Mahiro, get off you cow.”

“Oi! Not a cow!” Mahiro protested, laughing as he rolled off of him. Junji got up as well, tiredly undressing so he could go to bed. And expecting Mahiro to do the same. Thus he was quite unprepared for the feeling of Mahiro pressing against his back, arms circling his waist.

“Ne, Junji,” the vocalist murmured, cheek pressed to his back, “can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

Junji frowned without trying to turn around, glancing at the bed in question. Their room had two twin beds in it, so while they could technically manage to sleep together, it’d mean getting awfully close. Not that they hadn't slept in close quarters before, all of them, but this was different.

“... can I ask why?” he asked quietly, his own arms folding over Mahiro's, as close as he could do to a hug in their current positions.

“Does it really matter? I just....” Mahiro trailed off into an odd sigh. Not the sort of response Junji usually got and worry crept up his spine. Gently stepping out of his friend's arms, he turned around to hug him properly. He could practically see the dark cloud hanging over his friend, even if he had no idea what was causing it.

“I'm going to get cold if we keep standing here,” Junji teased softly. “Hit the light and come to bed.”

Mahiro brightened a little bit, even though it only lasted a moment. Junji slid into bed while the vocalist turned off the lights, then silently coaxed him into using his shoulder for a pillow, at least to start. Not that it took much effort on his part, the smaller man even going so far as to curl a leg around him as he pressed close.

“Whatever's bothering you, Mahi, you can talk to me about it, you know that, ne?” he murmured into the darkness, one arm curled about his friend. And yet he couldn't say he was surprised when the other man remained silent. Mahiro was hardly someone who worried overly much about keeping his problems to himself, most of the time, but every once in awhile, he would just clam up for a day or three. On the road was hardly the best time for him to be having one of his shut downs, but maybe he just needed a night of being held? If that cloud was still lurking in the morning, he could always go to Mitsuki for help.

~*~*~

Junji smiled to himself, pausing at the room's threshold. As expected, Mitsuki was bent over his guitar, scribbling something into the notebook on the table in front of him. The redhead never stopped writing music, it seemed, not even while they were on tour. Sometimes Junji wondered if there was anything in his friend's head besides music and Hatsune Miku.

“Break time, Sensei,” he announced, walking over to the couch. Mitsuki looked up with a startled expression, a smile blossoming when he saw the Starbucks caddy and McDonald's bag Junji was carrying.

“You didn't have to do this.”

“Of course, and if I hadn't, you'd still be here, unfed, when everyone else got back, and then we'd have to listen to your stomach growling and have one of the staffers go out and get you something before management started yelling about it.”

“I was going to go grab food just as soon as I'd finished this line,” Mitsuki insisted, feigning outrage as he set his guitar down next to him.

“Yeah, yeah, that's what you always say,” Junji teased, passing him one of the mochas before unpacking their lunch. It might have been true, but the odds were about even that Mitsuki would have just kept going until the end of their lunch break. Though Junji also had his own reasons for wanting to share lunch with the redhead, settling next to his friend.

“You know, some bands actually take a writing break between albums,” Junji teased, nudging him lightly.

“Oi, you know how it is, when there's a melody I have to get it down or it'll disappear!”

“I know, I know, I'm just teasing you, ne? Eat your lunch.”

Mitsuki half swatted at him before picking up one of the burgers. Junji couldn't help a laugh at the way his friend groaned at just the first bite.

“Oi, shut up!” Mitsuki protested, swatting him again. “I missed breakfast this morning!”

“And whose fault is that?” Junji countered.

“Negi's! I swear, next time we're home, I'm ordering a gag for Hiyorin. Waking me up in the middle of the night and then they didn't even have the courtesy to make sure I got up with my alarm this morning,” Mitsuki grumped. Junji could only offer his sympathies on the lost sleep, having been there himself not that long ago.

“So I guess you didn't really have a chance to notice Mahi's state this morning?” Junji asked, trying to keep his tone light and casual.

“No, I noticed,” Mitsuki said, some of the laughter dropping out of his voice. “I just hadn't gotten to talk to him yet. He was rooming with you last night, wasn't he? Did something happen?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “At least, I don't think so. I mean, he was laughing when we first got back to the room. And then all of a sudden he was pressed up against my back and wanting to sleep in my bed. And not wanting to talk about why. I was hoping maybe a night of cuddling would be enough to fix it, but, well....”

“It was worth doing, sometimes it really is that simple with him,” Mitsuki said, thoughtfully munching his fries. “Well, the live isn't until tomorrow, so at least there's that. But I'll talk to him later, see what I can do. You don't mind if I crash with you guys tonight, right?”

“Nah, it's fine. Spare you a repeat of Negi's antics, if nothing else,” he said with a wink. Mitsuki laughed and that easily they shifted the conversation away from Mahiro again. Maybe it wasn't much, but at least now they had a course of action.

~*~*~

For all that Mahiro had been trying to put on a happy face all day, Junji could see it for the weak mask that it was. And he was pretty sure the rest of them could, too, though no one seemed inclined to say anything about it. They had dinner together, all five of them, though it was no surprise when Hiyori and Takemasa backed out of doing anything else together.

“There's some clubs up that way, you two should go check them out,” Mahiro suggested as they stood outside the restaurant.

“What about you?” Junji asked, arching an eyebrow at the unexpected suggestion.

“Nah, it's okay, I think I'll just go back to the room, call it a night.”

“Eh, I'm not really in the mood for going out clubbing tonight, how about you, Juju?”

“Not by myself, certainly.”

“You guys....”

“How about a movie night, then? I could hook my laptop up to your TV, we could make Juju watch that movie you were telling me about last week?” Mitsuki suggested, wearing an innocent smile. For a moment, Junji was certain Mahiro was going to start pouting and protesting, and then he smiled instead.

“Only if I get to have ice cream in bed again.”

“Of course, kitten,” Mitsuki said, physically turning Mahiro around so they could head back to the hotel. “Anything you want. Well, within reason. I'm not going to arrange to have it served to you on some nubile high school girl or anything like that.”

“Do they even do that? And you call _me_ perverted....”

“Because you _are_ perverted,” Mitsuki said, still steering Mahiro by the shoulders, though it was completely unnecessary at this point. There was a combini practically right next to their hotel, Junji volunteering to duck inside to grab them some ice cream and drinks while his two friends continued on to the room.

“They were out of Starbucks ice creams, so I improvised,” he announced as he let himself back into his hotel room. “One mango, one green tea, and one salted caramel truffle. I figured we could share easily enough, ne? Picked up some more drinks, too.”

“Ah, Juju, always so thoughtful~” Mahiro purred from his perch on one of the two double beds, already changed into pajama pants and nothing else. He couldn't remember why their room was a double, but after last night, he hadn't wanted to ask unnecessary questions and risk them getting moved into a smaller room. Of course with Mitsuki spending the night, he wouldn't have to share a bed with Mahiro this time, but he wouldn't object to the extra space for himself, either.

A perfectly good plan that went out the window as soon as he was close enough for Mahiro to grab him, the vocalist latching onto his arm instead of taking the ice cream from him.

“Um....”

“What? Bed's big enough for all three of us to sit here. Can't share ice cream if you're all the way over there! And I definitely want to try them all, so either you sit here or you get none~”

Always a little bit scary when Mahiro was making that much sense. And since Junji was not about to let the little troll keep him from enjoying the ice cream he'd bought.... 

“Oh fine, you win,” he teased softly, nudging him over so he could sit on the bed as well. “So, sensei, what are we watching?”

“This movie Mahi found last week, some sort of parody. I haven't seen it yet either, so I don't know much more than that,” Mitsuki said, setting things up on his laptop.

“Come on, Juju, scoot over, make room for Mitsuki.”

“What's wrong with him sitting next to you?”

“Well, nothing, I guess, except you should definitely be in the middle for this.”

Well that was completely suspicious, Junji glancing sidelong at his friend. “Why is this starting to feel like a setup?” he asked no one in particular.

“Juju is so paranoid,” Mahiro scolded, trying to tug him further onto the bed. “You should feel lucky that I'm letting you have the middle spot, instead of complaining about having to move.”

Arguing obviously wasn't going to get him anywhere, not with that serious expression on Mahiro's face. Stifling a sigh, Junji scooted over to the middle of the bed. Almost as soon as he was settled, Mitsuki was joining them on the bed, the movie started on the television.

Of course it didn't take long for him to realize just why Mahiro wanted him in the middle.

“A _porn_ parody?? What the hell?!” he protested, but before he could slide off the end of the bed and escape, Mahiro was leaning heavily on his shoulder.

“Come on, be fair and trust me. The porn’s terrible, but the rest of it makes up for that. It's really funny, trust me!”

“But a porno??”

“What’s wrong with watching a porn flick with your bestest of best friends? Especially a terrible one?” Mahiro teased, grinning at him. “Right sensei?”

“Relax, Juju, the last time I watched one of these with Mahi, the sex scenes were so incredibly bad, we were laughing through them.”

“Are you saying you two make a regular habit of watching porn together??”

“Well, I don't know about that, but we've done it a couple times, yeah,” Mitsuki said, grinning a little too widely. “Come on, Juju, what's the worst that can happen?”

Huffing, Junji sat back against the headboard. He didn't want to think about worst case scenarios. Or what he'd do if the sex scenes started turning him on. A cold shower, he supposed. The trick there would be getting through the rest of the movie without his bandmates noticing. On the other hand, Mahiro could be right about the sex scenes being terrible, in which case he'd have nothing to worry about at all.

Junji didn't exactly make a habit of watching porn, parody or otherwise, and he certainly didn't remember the original movie plot going anything like this. The sex scenes really were pretty ridiculous, made even more so by Mahiro's and Mitsuki's running commentary.

“I've had batteries that didn't last as long, this is just stupid,” Mahiro muttered at one point. “Sensei, can't we fast forward through this?”

“If we fast forward through all the ridiculous parts, there won't be any movie left,” Mitsuki countered. “Anyway, haven't you watched this before?”

“Apparently I mentally blocked out this scene.”

“I'd think you'd like the lesbians scenes, twice the boobs and all.”

“Obviously you've never watched so-called lesbian porn,” Mahiro said, lightly poking Junji's side. “That shit's _really_ terrible, worse than this, even!”

“Okay, fine, no, I haven’t, but if _this_ scene turns into a gay orgy….”

“Now that really would be ridiculous!” Mitsuki agreed, laughing. “But they aren't going to put that in here. Mixing gay and het porn? That would just be silly.”

“As if this whole thing isn't silly,” Junji muttered, shaking his head. “And this guy has got to be the worst secret agent ever.”

“Well, it wouldn't be much of a _porn_ parody if he didn't get sidetracked by the beautiful woman. Besides, it's his turn for some action,” Mahiro said, grinning, as if that were completely reasonable. 

“He really has the worst sex faces, too,” Junji said, shaking his head and helping himself to some more of the mango ice cream.

“Eh, I think hers are worse. Duck lips are so overdone,” Mahiro said, picking up the green tea ice cream. 

“Is it bad I'm kind of wanting another guy to walk in on them just so there's a dick in her mouth so we don't have to listen to her terrible moaning?” Junji said, wrinkling his nose. It was completely over the top, just like everything else in this stupid movie.

“But then we'd have to listen to this ridiculous soundtrack even more than we already do,” Mitsuki countered, taking the mango out of his hands. The movie managed a whole two minutes of cheesy action sequence before the final confrontation.

“Well that's just reckless,” Mitsuki said, tsking. “What is she going to wear home now that she's ruined her shorts?”

“And why are her boobs suddenly hanging out?”

“You guys, it's a porno, why are you expecting it to make sense?” Mahiro said, laughing again. “Who's got the salted caramel?”

“Here, it's all yours, kitten.”

“… when did he have time to put on a condom?”

“What did I just say about it making sense?”

“Ok, ok, but seriously, this guy is even worse than her stupid partner. I don't think he's even fucking her half the time”

“Poor Juju,” Mahiro soothed, patting his leg. “Guess we should've found something less terrible for your first porno with us.”

“Why are you talking like you mean to do this again?” he asked, glancing sidelong at the man next to him. He wasn't sure which worried him more – the possibility that his friends were just messing with him or the idea that Mahiro was being serious.

“Hmm, I've got the first Paranormal Activity on here, would that work as a palate cleanser, Juju?” Mitsuki asked, fiddling with his laptop.

“Last time we watched a horror movie, I ended up with only a tiny sliver of bed. And no sheets.”

“Well, we only had one bed last time. Now there's two, you won't have to share with kitten.”

Mitsuki had only been teasing him, but he could tell immediately that those words had hit an unintended target as well. And with Mitsuki at the foot of the bed – and his nose already back in his laptop – that left only him to notice.

“Ignore him, he's an idiot,” Junji murmured, sliding arms around Mahiro and kissing his temple. “You can sleep in my bed any time you want. Like I could ever say no to you, ne?”

“You say no to me plenty,” the other man huffed, prickly as a wet hen. Idiot, half the reason for staging this movie night was so Mitsuki could help him pull Mahiro out of this weird funk he was in and the redhead knew that. He just hadn't been thinking, and now the mood was worse.

“Well not tonight,” he murmured, knowing he was stepping out onto a limb with that one. He could see it even more in the way Mahiro was suddenly studying him again. And then the vocalist was sliding off the bed, gathering up the emptied ice cream cups and tossing them in the bin.

“Play whatever you want, sensei,” Mahiro mumbled as he tugged on the sheets in a not so subtle hint that he wanted under them. Junji slid off the other side of the bed, debating whether he should get ready for bed himself or not. Not that it was much of a debate, seeing the way Mahiro curled up on his side like he meant to go to sleep. Stripping down to boxers, he then slid into bed behind Mahiro, half curling himself around the shorter man.

“Eh? I thought we were watching another movie? It’s kind of early yet, isn't it?”

“You can always go back to your own room,” Mahiro muttered, reaching out to turn off the bedside light.

“Be nice,” he scolded softly, nipping at Mahiro's ear. What the hell had possessed him to do that? And yet it seemed to be having the desired effect. Or, well, something not unlike the desired effect, Mahiro shivering and sitting up again. Junji did the same just in time for Mitsuki to join them on his other side, the movie already started.

Of course the movie wasn't on very long before he found himself with a lapful of Mahiro, the vocalist's face pressed to his chest. Completely predictable, of course; for all that Mahiro claimed to love horror movies, he wouldn't watch them alone. For that matter, he only half watched anything, spending the rest of the movie hiding just like this, from what Junji had seen. But for once, Junji didn't really mind. This wasn't how he had imagined the night going, though. Usually when Mahiro was given a choice between him and Mitsuki, his friend would generally pick the redhead. Though with Junji being in the middle tonight, he couldn't really say he was that surprised, either.

“Hmm, I think Mahi watched less of that one than usual. I can put on something else, but it's getting kind of late now,” Mitsuki said when the movie finished.

“I'll be fine, I have two big strong men here with me to protect me, ne?” Mahi said, chuckling as he slid off Junji's lap. Junji gave him a skeptical look, but didn't say anything.

“So does that mean we need to put you in the middle again?”

“I don't think that's going to work,” Junji said, frowning slightly. Sitting together had been one thing and even that had been a bit of a tight fit. This bed wasn't quite as big as his bed at home and that had been bad enough.

“Hmm, maybe you're right,” Mitsuki conceded. “But I can stay the night still if you want, kitten.”

“Yes, and you can have the bed closest to the door,” Mahiro said, grinning mischievously.

“Oh sure, offer me up as bait again. I see how it is,” Mitsuki teased as he set about disconnecting his laptop and otherwise getting ready for bed. No, this night had definitely not gone at all as Junji had intended. But he had to admit to himself, as Mahiro snuffled into his shoulder, this wasn't such a bad way to end a night either.

~*~*~

After the seeming success of their movie night, Junji really didn't know what to make of the withdrawn Mahiro that had reappeared by the time they had gone down for breakfast. He shared a concerned look with Mitsuki, but he wasn't sure what more either of them could do about this persistent mood. Considering nothing they had tried so far had managed to actually work....

But though Mahiro was oddly quiet all day, spending much of it either with his nose in a book or working on writing, the moment he was on stage, he was back to normal. Maybe they had been worried for nothing? Junji kept an eye on his friend all through the concert, watching for any hint that something wasn't right, but there really was nothing through the whole concert. Their normal, bouncy, happy Mahiro … who vanished again after the encore. Mitsuki caught their singer in his arms, encouraging him to join him on the couch. A bit intimate for being surrounded by staff, but after the energy of the live, the cloud of upset around Mahiro was almost plainly visible. Perhaps that was why no one said anything, left the two men alone while the rest of them changed out of costumes and helped the staff with break down.

Junji was in the middle of helping pack up their equipment when he noticed only one person on the couch. Curious, he walked into their dressing room. Mitsuki's and Mahiro's costumes had joined the others, but other than that he could see no sign of the redhead.

“Mahi?”

The vocalist startled, twisting around on the couch to look at him. “Junji....”

“Everything okay?” he asked, approaching the couch in anticipation of a denial of some sort. The tiny shake of Mahiro's head could have gone either way, but the way Mahiro latched onto him the second he was close enough was rather less ambiguous. A bit of effort and he got Mahiro to relax his grip long enough to let him sit down on the couch with him.

“Talk to me,” he murmured, but Mahiro only shook his head, pressing his face into Junji's chest. He could feel tiny tremors from the other. Things were getting worse instead of better. And he still had no idea what any of it meant. Or what had happened to Mitsuki.

“Mahi, I … oh hey, Juju.” Speak of the devil....

“Sensei,” he said with a nod, still holding Mahiro close to his chest. Not that he had much choice, the way the other man was clinging to him. “Don't suppose he's told you anything?”

“You know what he's like when he gets like this,” Mitsuki said, shaking his head.

“He's right here and can hear every word, you know,” Mahiro mumbled, words muffled against Junji's chest. Well, that was better than silence, at least.

“They've just about finished packing everything up,” Mitsuki said, reaching out to stroke fingers through Mahiro's hair. “Lucky for you, this morning Negi talked Manager-san out of pushing us to drive on to the next city tonight, though we'll have a pretty early morning tomorrow. Still, one more night in those big beds.”

“So we can grab dinner and go back to the hotel now?” Mahiro asked, pulling his head up and away from Junji's chest. Almost criminal, the hopefulness in that look.

“Well, I should let Negi and Hiyorin know we aren't going to be joining them, but yeah.”

“I could do tha–,” Junji started, but before he could finish the thought, Mahiro was twisting a hand in his shirt. Right, well, that was unexpected, but if Mahiro wanted him to stay, not like he could really argue with him, not tonight anyway. Becoming a bit of a pattern, that.

“Another threesome night? Or is that your not entirely subtle way of saying I don't need to come with you?” Mitsuki asked. Junji couldn't help worrying about the tone of the other man's words, as if he were trying to cover his hurt at the idea of not being wanted without much success.

“Oi, don't say that, Sensei, you're always wanted,” Mahiro mumbled, sounding somewhat mollified. “Too bad the beds aren't bigger.”

“We'll make do, we always do, right?”

“I wonder if we could push them together. We should try that when we get back to the room,” Junji said, trying to remember the exact layout of the room. He hadn't really thought to check, but he didn't think their beds were the type bolted to the floor. So in theory, after he moved the nightstand out of the way, he ought to be able to push them together.

“… why couldn't you have had that brilliant idea last night?” Mahiro huffed, lightly swatting his arm.

“Oi, hey now!” he protested, though he couldn't help grinning as well. “For one thing, I was expecting you to latch onto Sensei last night, not me. And for another thing, that stupid porno temporarily cost me at least half a dozen IQ points. Probably more. A lot more.”

“Did someone say porno? Oi, are you guys watching porn together now? And without me?? I am so under appreciated around here!”

Of course Takemasa would have to walk in on them right then. And put his own Negi-ish spin on what he'd just heard, because of course he would. For better or for worse, the interruption also had Mahiro pulling away from him, grabbing his things.

“You are anything but unappreciated, Negi,” Mitsuki said, patting their leader's shoulder. “And while you're here, you can tell Hiyorin that he doesn't have to worry about me. You two are welcome to do whatever you want, in fact, so enjoy.”

“Eh? What, why can't you tell him at dinner?”

“Because,” Mahiro said, poking Takemasa's side, “I'm stealing Sensei and Junji and making them my slaves for the rest of the night. And whatever you're thinking right now, you're wrong.”

“So not going to dress them up in little slave boy outfits?” Takemasa teased, grinning in pure mischief. 

“Wouldn't you love to know~” Mahiro shot back with a wicked grin of his own. “Anyway, you and Hiyorin have fun. Tell Manager-san Junji was feeling nauseated or something.”

“Hai, hai, I'll think of something, don't worry. You three go have your kinky fun times~”

Junji was pretty sure his sputtering attempts at protesting were not helping in the least, especially not with as red as he was sure his face was with embarrassment. On the other hand, Mahiro's laughter sounded genuine, so perhaps it was worth the hit to his reputation. Maybe.

“Juju looks so cute when he;s flustered,” Mitsuki teased, lightly patting his cheek. “You know they're just teasing, right? Whatever Negi thinks we're going to be doing tonight, pretty sure it's not anything like that.”

“He probably thinks we just don't want to have dinner with Manager-san again.”

“I think you're underestimating how kinky Negi's mind is,” Junji said, shaking his head as he made sure he had everything. Not that he could say he necessarily knew better, but…. Well, after what he'd woken up to that one time, he knew more than he'd ever wanted about his two bandmates' sexual interests.

“Does it really matter?” Mitsuki asked, herding them both out of the venue. The redhead had a point. Whatever Negi thought they were really doing, he wasn't likely to share those thoughts with anyone, except maybe Hiyori. Especially if he was assuming something sexual.

Unlike last night, this time all three of them went into the combini, each picking out his own bento and drink, and each paying separately. Once they were back at the hotel, he checked the two beds and the nightstand between them, relieved to find all three were movable. Junji swiftly pressed Mitsuki into service helping him move things around until they had the beds pushed together. They even fussed with the bedding and used the remaining furniture to brace the beds together a bit more firmly so Mahiro couldn't fuss at them about possibly falling between the beds in the middle of the night.

“There, all better now?”

“Much better, slaves,” Mahiro teased, ducking the pillow aimed at his head with an unrepentant grin.

“All that work, and that's his idea of gratitude? Remind me again why we even bothered?” Junji asked, biting back a grin of his own.

“Because,” Mitsuki said in a dry drawl, “if we didn't, he'd whine until we gave in just to shut him up.”

“Oi!!”

“Good point. Well, whatever. Dinner awaits us, assuming Mahikitty hasn't made a little pig of himself.”

“For your information,” Mahiro said with a haughty sniff. “I haven't even opened mine yet, waiting for the two of you to finish with the beds so we could all eat together.”

“So thoughtful. So who are you and what did you do with the real Mahiro?” Mitsuki asked, laughter alight in his eyes if not his words.

“Oi!!”

“Thank you for waiting for us, kitty,” Junji said, ruffling their vocalist's hair as he sat down at the small table. Only just barely big enough for all three of them, but that was fine. They were used to close quarters on the road at this point anyway.

Dinner conversation wandered between light and serious, though it was mostly focused on the concert, how things had gone and what they might do differently the next time. And how they might avoid technical difficulties in the future, though that tended to be a losing battle. It wouldn't be a tour without technical difficulties of some sort, as long as they happened earlier in the day at least they could potentially avoid problems during the show. And when the food was gone, Mitsuki relocated himself to the bed, stretching out not quite in the middle.

“Yeah, this should work just fine. Plenty of space for all three of us and no, you aren't going to fall between the beds, kitten,” he announced, grinning.

“Good!” Mahiro said, a smile of his own on his lips, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. Curious. Junji lingered at the table with his beer, watching as Mahiro moved to join Mitsuki on the bed. That was more like it, he decided, watching as Mahiro prodded Mitsuki into the position he liked best, using the redhead for a willing pillow. He would even be willing to find another room for the night if Mahiro hadn't already made it clear he wouldn't accept such a thing.

“So you want to tell us what's been bothering you?” Mitsuki asked softly, speaking only just barely loud enough for Junji to be able to hear him. Not that it seemed to matter, since Mahiro didn't say anything. Maybe they really were going to have to just ride this one out? Whatever was upsetting the man, it hadn't kept him from putting on a good show for the fans, so maybe it wasn't that important? Except for the part where Junji hated to see anyone he cared about in pain. And Mahiro was quite clearly that.

“Come on, kitten,” Mitsuki said, gently trying to coax the other into a confession. “Something's bothering you, we can all tell, you know. We want to help, but we can't if you won’t tell us what's wrong.”

“It's not something you can just fix so easily,” Mahiro said with a heavy sigh. “Really, it's fine. Just … something I have to work out for myself. But thank you.”

Junji watched his friend closely, wondering why it was he didn't believe him. Wasn't that exactly what these moody periods usually meant? That someone somewhere had said something and Mahiro was trying to process whatever it was? But if it was something like that, then why wouldn't he say anything more about it? 

Then again, maybe he was thinking too much about it. If Mahiro didn't want to talk about whatever it was, well, he could be just as stubborn as any of the rest of them and prodding obviously wasn't going to get them anywhere. Maybe all they could do was to keep on as they had been, applying cuddles and affection where possible and letting Mahiro work it out on his own.

“All right, well, if you change your mind….”

“I know, sensei, and if I do, I will, I promise,” Mahiro said, shifting and pressing a kiss to Mitsuki's cheek. Again Junji wondered if he really shouldn't be making other arrangements for himself.

“As for you, mister,” Mahiro said, suddenly rolling over to fix him with a pointed frown. “I know what you're thinking and stop it. And stop pretending like you're still drinking that beer. Put it down and come to bed like a good boy.”

“What if I don't want to be a good boy, Mommy?” he teased, chuckling softly. Though Mahiro wasn't entirely wrong. He finished his beer in a last swallow, then stood up into a slow stretch. He wasn't as young as he used to be and his shoulders had no problems reminding him of that. Under other circumstances, he might have even taken advantage of Mitsuki staying with them to ask for a massage. Something he would keep in mind for when their kitten was back to his usual self.

“You better be coming to bed right now, Juju, or else.” Mahiro countered, sticking his tongue out at him.

“Oi, don't stick that out there unless you mean to use it,” he said. He supposed he might as well make himself ready for bed, since Mahiro was being so pushy. As usual.

“Who says I won't~?” the vocalist countered, smirking. He rolled his eyes, half tempted to toss his shirt at the man. Not that it would do any good, of course, because why would it? Mahiro could be so impossible sometimes. And yet he still joined his two friends, even let Mahiro use him as a pillow yet again.

“Mm, my two muscular men~” Mahiro cooed, pressing a quick kiss to Junji's cheek. “The stuff of every girl's dreams~”

“You're not a girl, Mahi,” Mitsuki said and Junji could almost hear the eye roll in his voice.

“Of course not, but I still get to have you both all to myself,” Mahiro said, rolling over to give Mitsuki a decidedly not at all chaste kiss on the mouth. A part of him wanted to squirm away and another part didn't dare. But watching his two friends kissing, and like that, was making him feel more than a little uncomfortable. Like a third wheel.

“Maa, of course I still like you, too, Juju,” Mahiro said, startling him with another kiss to the cheek. “I could kiss you like that, too, if you wanted~”

“How about we all just go to sleep?” he mumbled, not really feeling up to attempting to navigate that potential mine field. As much as he generally tried to pretend like that night hadn't happened, every once in awhile, usually because of something Mahiro had said, the memory would come back, as strong as ever. And every time it left him feeling weird in his own skin.

“You're so stiff sometimes, you know that?” Mahiro mumbled, snuggling up to him again. Junji closed his eyes in a futile effort to not remember the last time his friend had accused him of that.

“Just go to sleep, kitty,” he said softly. “Got a big day tomorrow.”

A soft huff was the only reply he got to that comment. Glancing sidelong at Mitsuki, he was a little surprised to see the redhead was already asleep, curled around Mahiro with an arm around the vocalist's hips. Well, sleep had been his own suggestion. Maybe after a night of being sandwiched between Mitsuki and himself, Mahiro would be back to his usual self? He could only hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The movie scene was written in reference to an actual, specific porn parody of the Lara Croft series, but I forgot to write down the title of the thing, oops. Yes, that's right, I watched a porno to write this chapter. Ph34r. ww


	3. Chapter 3

The alarm on Mitsuki’s phone was annoyingly loud and obnoxious, but at least it had the desired effect. Well, it did on Mitsuki and Junji anyway; Mahiro was more asleep than awake still. But between them Mitsuki and Junji were able to keep their poor kitten from burrowing under the blankets and even got him dressed enough that they could take him down to the van. Mitsuki settled with Mahiro on the back bench, the man very much asleep in his lap within minutes. Kind of adorable, really. Made even more so when someone on staff found a blanket and gave him Satoko to cuddle. It wasn't right, no grown man should be that adorable.

“Aren't there rules or laws or something against being that adorable? There ought to be some sort of rule,” Takemasa half muttered, though Junji could have sworn he saw a smile lurking about the man's lips.

“Oh hush, let him sleep.”

“So what were you three up to last night that he's still asleep? Must have been quite the workout, ne?” the guitarist said, openly smirking now. So much for Mitsuki's theory that Negi wasn't harboring any such thoughts about them.

“Nothing like that, you pervert,” he scolded. “We ate dinner, talked a bit, went to bed. You know how much kitten isn't a morning person.”

“Right, right, of course.”

“Anyway, when are we stopping for breakfast?” he asked quickly, determined to get their leader off this subject before he started speculating even further.

“Stop? _Stop?_ We don't _stop_ for anything! That's why you were supposed to eat breakfast before you got in the van, Junji-kun~!” Takemasa chirped. Way too alert for this early in the morning and if he didn't quit it soon, Junji was going to have to hurt him.

“Negi, it's barely past four in the morning, I can't eat at this hour. And you wouldn't like the results if I tried to force it. But a couple of hours from now? That's going to be a different story.”

“Hmm, well, I guess we could see how far we've gotten in two hours? Hiyorin's driving, so....”

Junji nodded, willing to leave it at that. With Hiyori driving, two hours might be enough to get them halfway to the next city or better, especially this early. In two hours would be a perfect time for pulling into a Starbucks or McDonald's, sit out the worst of the morning commuter traffic. Until then, well, perhaps he would try to catch a bit more sleep himself. They might have gone to bed early, but with as early as they had needed to get up, he wasn't feeling very rested. Negi would wake him up when they stopped, if he didn't wake up on his own.

~*~*~

Thanks to Hiyori's driving, they reached the next city on their tour well before they could even check in at the hotel. Which was a bit of a problem.

“This is why we don't let you drive more often,” Mahiro mock grumbled.

“Yes, yes, Hiyorin is the reason we can't have nice things,” said Takemasa in feigned agreement. “You should drive more slowly! You could get us all killed with your reckless ways! And then where would we be?!”

“Oi, oi,” Junji said, stepping up to Hiyori's defense, so to speak, curling an arm around their bassist and pulling him close. Like the good maiden in distress he generally wasn't, Hiyori pressed close, sniffling into his shoulder. “No need to gang up on our princess just because we're here early. We should take advantage of the opportunity he's presented us instead of yelling at him about it.”

“Well of course you would take his side,” Mahiro teased, his usual grin resurfacing. “Our gallant Junji-san, always coming to the rescue of distressed damsels.”

Junji rolled his eyes, lightly squeezing Hiyori. It was all in good fun and he could tell Hiyori was taking it that way as well, but still, it was probably enough. Besides, it wasn't helping them decide what they were going to do with themselves until the hotel would let them check in to their rooms.

“It's a little early for lunch, but we could wander around and see what's available? I'm sure we can find things to do here, even if it's just window shopping,” he suggested.

“Why is Junji-kun always trying to make me walk everywhere like some sort of peasant?” Mahiro mock whined. “I'm a prince, too, you know!”

“Princess more like,” Mitsuki stage muttered, lips twitching with suppressed laughter.

“Oi!”

“If Princess Hiyorin can walk around downtown exploring with the group, so can Princess Mahikitty,” Hiyori added, slipping free from Junji's arm. “And I think it sounds like fun. Come on.”

“Oh fine,” Mahiro huffed before turning and jabbing Junji in the chest with a feigned cross look. “But if I buy anything, _you're_ carrying it.”

“As per usual, yes, I know,” Junji said, rolling his eyes. He was pretty sure the only time Mahiro carried his own shopping was when he went by himself, though he wasn't at all sure how often, if at all, that happened. Their kitten really was such a diva sometimes. Of course, other times he could be so sweet and thoughtful, it generally made up for his diva-ish lapses. Probably the only reason they all still put up with him some days.

Leaving a message with their manager's assistant, they headed out for a bit of tourism in a city none of them had visited before now. Junji did his best to keep track of where they were relative to the hotel, not entirely sure any of the others were doing the same. He really didn't want them getting so lost they ended up having to call their manager for directions.

Some shopping and a relaxed lunch later, they returned to the hotel to be greeted by a grim-faced staffer. That looked like it was going to be bad news. On the other hand, if they had been in trouble or the problem too serious, their manager would be delivering the news himself, so....

“The hotel is very sorry, but there was a mistake in the reservations and there aren't any more open rooms, so you're all going to have to share one,” she said, bowing low in apology, as if this were her fault. No wonder their manager had chosen to leave one of the female staffers waiting for them.

“We've made do with worse, I'm sure we'll be fine,” Mitsuki said, before thanking her for waiting and gently shooing her on about her work. At least the room they had been given had two double beds instead of singles. _That_ would have been a serious adventure. Or disaster, depending on your point of view.

“This should be cozy,” Mitsuki said, dropping his bag on the far bed. “Like old times again.”

“You know what we haven't done in a long time?” Takemasa said, perching on the foot of the other bed. There was something not entirely right about the way their leader was grinning at them.

“What's that?” Mahiro asked, more interested in finding a convenient corner for his stuff than actually listening.

“Band orgy!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing to slowly turn around (as needed), and give their leader four very blank looks. Takemasa, on the other hand, seemed impervious to judgment, or maybe just oblivious to it, grinning with obvious pleasure, as if he'd hit upon the most wonderful idea ever.

“Negi, we have _never_ had a band orgy,” Mahiro half muttered.

“Well yes, and never is definitely a very long time!”

Junji half wished he could be surprised by this turn of events, but after what their fearless leader had been saying in the van that morning, well, it wasn't really that surprising. 

“I _did_ try to warn you that he's a huge pervert,” he muttered, shaking his head at this foolishness.

“This goes beyond just perverted. Really, Hiyorin, don't you have any control of him at all?” Mahiro asked, sighing. A rhetorical question, since Takemasa wasn't someone to be controlled so easily and they all knew it.

“Oi, what's wrong with a band orgy??” Takemasa protested, pouting at them.

“Well, let's see,” Mahiro said, starting to count off reasons on his fingers. “It's perverse, you're dating Hiyorin, Sensei is also seeing someone, oh yes, and perhaps most importantly, Juju is straight.”

“Since when?” the guitarist said, blinking at him in surprise. Why did his bandmates keep doing that? What was so weird about him being straight, anyway?

“Since always? I don't know,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance.

“But … aren't you even a little bit curious?”

“Oi!” And it was Junji's turn to blink in surprise when Mahiro swatted Takemasa over the head. “What difference does _that_ make? Even if he was, what sort of unstable person would make his first time be in some sweaty orgy??”

“What's wrong with sweaty orgies?!?”

Rolling his eyes, Mahiro merely swatted the guitarist again before turning back to his bags.

“Here's a thought,” Mitsuki said into the slightly awkward silence. “Hiyorin, you and Negi take that bed, and the three of us will get cozy in this one. And no sex! We're only here one night, you can go without that long.”

“Hmph. Who knew you three were all such prudes!”

But none of them were about to rise to Takemasa's bait. It was a useless argument and anyway, they needed to be at the venue before much longer.

~*~*~

For the rest of the day, Junji was fairly successful in forgetting all about Negi's little suggestion. Too many other things to occupy his mind, from setting up his kit and sound checks to makeup and styling. Junji sat quietly in his chair, admittedly paying more attention to Mitsuki than what was being done to his own person, but it couldn't be helped. The redhead was more interesting, even though he had seen the man put on his makeup dozens of times before now. 

Of course now that he wasn't doing anything else, the scene from earlier that day was playing through his head again. Takemasa really had seemed genuinely confused and surprised to hear he was straight and now he wanted to know why. What was it he was doing that was making his bandmates think that he was anything other than straight? Maybe he would have a chat with Mitsuki about it later? Or more likely tomorrow at the rate things were going. It was embarrassing enough already, he didn't want to ask anyone else or even just in front of anyone else.

Finally it was time to take the stage. Junji went first, of course, saluting the fans before taking his seat behind his drums. As he had countless times before with sleeved costumes, he snagged the koshihimo conveniently left on one of the snares, using it to anchor and tie back his sleeves while he watched his bandmates take the stage. Mahiro appeared to be his usual bouncy self, but then that had been true at the last live, too. So he kept his watch from behind his drums as the concert unfolded, through altered furi and excited MCs, fanservice and one genuine moment of pure emotion when he thought Mahiro just might start crying.

Maybe that was why, as he staggered into their green room after the encore, he felt like his arms were going to fall out of their sockets from drumming so hard. Of course, hearing the response from their fans always made it worth it in the long run, but at that moment he wasn't feeling so sure. He would be in trouble if he'd actually hurt himself, though he doubted it was anything more than a more intense version of the usual post-live crash. Still, he was glad they had the next couple of days for travel and recovery. A momentary twinge that he wasn't being more help to the staff, but just the thought of having to take down his drum kit was enough to make him groan and press his face into the couch cushion beneath him.

Someone was fiddling with his costume, he could feel fingers pushing up the back of his tour shirt, poking at the bottom half of his costume without trying to turn him over first. He should probably either be helping or stopping them, but both required moving. A huff as fingers gave one last tug and then a hand was connecting surprisingly firmly with his ass.

“Come on, you have to at least get changed, Juju,” Mahiro half muttered. Oh was that who it was? “Sensei says he'll go over your shoulders after dinner. And I've got some tiger balm for right now, but you can't have it until you're out of your costume.”

“Meanie,” he huffed, carefully pushing himself up from the couch.

“Realist. Staff wants your clothes and anyway, I can't put the balm on until you're at least topless, silly,” Mahiro countered, smiling sweetly. Damn the man for having a point. The vocalist flashed him the small container of balm before slipping it into a pocket so he could help Junji change back into his normal clothes. He didn't really need the help, but he also couldn't bring himself to discourage the other man. Especially not when he started rubbing the balm into his shoulders.

“You know, one of these days I'm going to remember to wear gloves when I'm doing this for you,” Mahiro said with a slight huff, though he was smiling when Junji glanced back at him.

“Thanks, kitten, I really appreciate it.”

He could have sworn Mahiro actually blushed a bit at that before playfully swatting his shoulder. 

“Now come on, kitten is hungry!”

Junji grinned, shrugging into t-shirt and hoodie. Now that was more like their Mahiro. Whether it was the extra cuddling or not, it didn't really matter, so long as it lasted.

~*~*~

As much as Junji was enjoying being out with his bandmates, he was also quietly relieved when they made their way back to the hotel. He could feel the way his shoulders were tensing and was looking forward to the promised massage, even though he knew it was going to hurt like hell.

“All right, Juju, strip it,” Mitsuki said almost as soon as they were in the room.

“Oh, we get a show now~?” Takemasa asked and that same glint was back in his eyes. Junji rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored their leader as he slipped out of his hoodie.

“No, no, no, that's not how you do it!” the green haired man protested, jumping up from the bed he was to share with Hiyori. “You have to get your hips into it! See, like this~”

In spite of himself, Junji actually turned around to see what Takemasa was on about this time. And almost immediately regretted it when he saw the way their leader was doing an exaggerated sort of stripper dance. Yanking off his shirt, he wadded it up and threw it the guitarist.

“Knock it off,” he grumbled. “Sensei, how do you want me?”

The words were out of his mouth before his brain could catch up with them. He had _meant_ – and was pretty sure Mitsuki knew that – to ask if the redhead wanted him sitting up or laying down, but from the look on Takemasa's face he knew that wasn't what their leader had heard.

“Oh, oh, can Kujou-san play, too?” Takemasa asked, practically bouncing in place. “I say … totally naked, on the bed, hands and knees. Yes, definitely on hands and knees for the two of you.”

Junji was too busy sputtering to notice where the pillow came from that smacked their leader in the head, though a glance behind him showed the stack of futon and extra bedding was down a pillow. Kitten was looking suspiciously innocent while both Hiyori and Mitsuki appeared to be trying their hardest not to laugh.

“Face down on the bed, please,” the redhead said, voice still alight with amusement. “Might want to pin your hair up first though.”

“What, no hair pulling?”

Junji didn't even bother rolling his eyes this time, digging up a few hairpins to keep the longer layers from getting in Mitsuki's way. As soon as he was settled on the bed, he could feel the redhead straddling his hips, soon followed by warm hands on his now chilled shoulders. And hissed sharply when thumbs found and dug into knotted muscle.

“Someone skipped his warm ups tonight,” Mitsuki scolded fondly. “If I didn't know better, I might think you did it on purpose~”

“Oh yes,” he half mumbled, “it was all a dastardly plot to get you on top of me.”

“Well who wouldn't want my hands all over them?” the redhead agreed, chuckling.

“So, wait, all I have to do to get a massage from you is say I played too hard?” Hiyori teased from the other bed. “If I'd known it was so easy...”

“Hmm? Oh, is Negi not satisfying your needs anymore, Hiyorin~?” Mitsuki teased and Junji felt himself grinning in spite of everything.

“Oh no, it's not like that at all,” their bassist purred, smirking at them. “But sometimes a guy likes a change of pace, ne?”

“Mm, Mitsuki-sensei does have big, strong hands, doesn't he?” Takemasa added. “Ne, sensei, I've got this spot--”

“Nice try, Negi,” the redhead said, interrupting the obvious request. “Maybe tomorrow, if you're good. By the time I'm done with this dork, I'm not going to have much left.”

“Sorry, sensei,” Junji mumbled, feeling guilty now. They'd all had a long day and here he was being selfish.

“Don't worry about it,” Mitsuki murmured, bending down close so he couldn't be overheard so casually. “I know you're good for it.” Junji could feel his cheeks heating at those words, though he couldn't imagine why. Probably more of their perverse leader's influence that he was even thinking in those terms.

“Maa, if this lame thing is all the show we're getting tonight, I'm going to bed!” Takemasa announced, but if he had been expecting to get any more of a reaction than murmurs of agreement, he was wrong. Junji had been thinking of doing the same after this massage and Mahiro was already looking more asleep than awake, waiting for them to finish. 

“Don't forget to set an alarm,” Mahiro said as he stretched and changed into light pajamas. It was more than the vocalist had been wearing to bed the last couple of nights, but he didn't blame him if he was trying not to give their crazy leader any more ideas.

He hadn't been expecting the slight tingling of Mitsuki rubbing more tiger balm into his shoulders, but he definitely appreciated it, purring something not entirely unlike a moan.

“Give it a couple minutes to sink in and then bed,” Mitsuki said with a last parting squeeze. Junji nodded, unmoving from his spot in the middle of the bed. He would need to move soon enough, he was certain Mahiro would insist on it, even, but for the moment he was in no hurry. And even less when he felt fingers in his hair, fishing out hairpins and combing the layers back into place.

“What a lazy Juju,” Mitsuki teased from the foot of the bed, patting his shin. “Did I overdo it with the massage and now you're too tired to move? Are we going to have to finish undressing you?”

“I can help~” their leader chipped in and Junji groaned into the bedding. He'd heard about hope springing eternal, but this was getting to be a bit ridiculous.

“Oi, you have Hiyorin, hands off!”

Junji wasn't sure what to make of how possessive Mahiro was sounding. Or of that laughter coming from Takemasa. Laughter cut off by he had no idea what and didn't care as long as it meant the green haired guitarist was sufficiently distracted. He was pretty sure those were Mahiro's hands on his waist, not Mitsuki's, but he still opened his eyes to check just in case.

“… what? You can't go to bed in your jeans, Juju,” the younger man explained, offering him a sweetly innocent grin. He was right, of course, but Junji had had enough of being dressed and undressed like a doll. Easing himself off the bed, he tried not to notice the way Takemasa and Hiyori were entangled with each other. At least it was keeping the green haired pervert from noticing the three of them undressing or the subsequent settling into bed with Mahiro in the middle.

“No sex, you two,” Mitsuki declared again, plenty loud enough for the couple to hear before he turned off the last light. The giggles from the other bed weren't all that encouraging, but maybe they would behave? He could hope, anyway. 

A hope that seemed all too short lived. He could have sworn he had only just fallen asleep when he was roused by a steady thump of something hitting the wall. The bed. That was the other bed creaking and oh god, what was wrong with those two??? Groaning, he pulled his pillow over his head and pressed closer to Mahiro, but of course it was no use, he couldn't get the conjured image out of his head.

“Oh my fucking god.” Mahiro's horrified voice and Junji didn't want to see what his friend was seeing now that the lights were suddenly on as well. His imagination had already seen too much as it was.

“One night! We ask you to abstain for one night!” Mitsuki grumbled.

“We were being quiet!” Hiyori said in sharp protest.

“The bed was banging against the wall!”

“ … oh ….”

“What do you mean, oh? Don't even try to tell me you didn't notice or couldn't tell!”

“ … Negi started it ….”

“Oi!”

“Even if he did, you're supposed to say no, Hiyorin. Junji's a delicate butterfly, I don't know how many more times he can handle being scarred by you two perverts!”

“Oi!” he protested, though he still wasn't about to pull his head out from under the limited protection of his pillow. 

“Do we have to separate you two?”

“Because that's always worked so well before,” he muttered, earning himself a gentle patting from someone, probably Mahiro.

“Mou, we'll behave, Mitsuki-sensei. Kujou-san promises.”

“Think of it as a new batsu game,” Mahiro added. “First person to moan loses. And since you've been so disturbing to him, Juju will get to set the punishment.”

“… now that's just cruel,” Hiyori grumbled.

“He's right, that's not very fair,” Mitsuki said. “So if either one of you moans, you both lose~”

“Oi! What if it's one of you?”

“Why would it be one of us? We're actually trying to _sleep_ over here.”

“But it could happen! What if it's Junji-kun?”

“If I'm groaning, it's because of some nightmare you two have given me,” Junji muttered, though he wasn't sure his words made it past Mahiro.

“It's okay, I'll protect you from the scary dreams,” the vocalist murmured, lifting the pillow to press a kiss into his hair. He had no idea how Mahiro intended to do that, but at the moment he didn't care, either, as long as it actually worked. Not that he was holding his breath for that, either. Why couldn't he have normal, respectful bandmates who wouldn't ever even think of doing something like this? But that was probably a useless question. He had the bandmates he had and, even with this nonsense, he couldn't imagine being in a band with anyone else.

~*~*~

Somehow, they all made it through the rest of the night without any further incidents and Junji was surprised to find he actually felt a little disappointed. A part of him had been looking forward to the thought of making up some creative punishment for their dear leader. He would have likely felt bad for having to put Hiyori through it, too, but after yesterday's antics, as far as Junji was concerned, Takemasa had more than earned some just reward.

Driving helped him settle a bit more, relaxing him into the zen of the moment, as it were. Not that it didn't have its own issues, of course. Like listening to his bandmates asking every fifteen minutes if they were there yet.

“Right, if you two don't stop asking that, I'm going to pull this van over and make you _walk_ the rest of the way!”

A meaningless threat, of course, since he would never actually do such a thing, and he was pretty sure they all knew it, but at least it got Negi to stop poking his arm. Even so, it was a relief to reach their next hotel, made even more of a relief when he found they'd shuffled rooms again and Mitsuki was his assigned roommate for the next few stops.

“All right, you, shirt off,” Mitsuki said as he set his bag on one of the two singles, a half teasing note to his voice.

“Eh?” Junji blinked at the redhead, feeling stupid for the unexpected request.

“Obviously your shoulders are still bothering you – and from what I was feeling last night, I'm not surprised – so shirt off and I'll give them another shot of my magic touch~”

“ … you don't have to do that, sensei. Your hands....”

“Will be just fine, you silly goose. Come on, stop being so stubborn.”

He probably could have kept arguing, but really, what was the point? He knew that look on the redhead's face, Mitsuki wasn't going to stop until he got his way. Stubborn as he knew he could be, Junji knew Mitsuki could out stubborn him pretty easily. Especially when it came to something like this. Besides, this would give him a chance to ask the redhead what he'd been thinking over in his own head since yesterday.

Feigning a heavy sigh of resignation, he slipped out of his shirt and laid down on his bed, much as he had the previous evening. And smiled to himself as warm hands started kneading his shoulders. Either the redhead wasn't pressing as hard or he wasn't as tense as he thought he was, either way this massage didn't hurt the way the last one had, and for that he was quietly grateful. The conversation he intended to have was already going to be hard enough without being interrupted by pained yelps.

“Ne, sensei … is it really that weird that I'm straight?”

“Eh? If this is because of what Negi was saying last night....”

“Yes and no,” he said, rolling his shoulders when the redhead's hands stayed paused. “You all came to the same conclusion about me, I'm just wondering why.”

“Not quite the same,” Mitsuki said with a low chuckle, squeezing his shoulders before sliding hands down his back a bit. “Mahi was convinced you had to be on the gay side of bi … and he was only willing to concede to any bi leanings at all because I kept arguing the point.”

“But … but _why_? Is it something I'm doing or … what?”

“You'd have to ask him that, Juju,” the redhead said, thumbs digging into a knotted spot on his back. “For what it's worth, I'd always figured you were in the bi region. Maybe a little more drawn to women, but if the right personality came along, the gender wouldn't matter so much?”

Junji huffed, turning those words over in his head. He would be lying if he tried to say he wasn't aware of the attractiveness of some men. Like his bandmates, all of whom were quite handsome in their own ways, though he didn't find anything … _arousing_ about any of them. And wasn't that sort of a requirement in order to call one's self bisexual? Just because his brain would occasionally decide to unhelpfully replay that night and sometimes even wander off, wondering what might have happened if he hadn't stopped things.... Even then, he never made it very far past the kissing they had already been doing, whether because his imagination was inadequate to the task or the rest of his brain needed that long to jolt him back out of it.

“It's not such a big deal, ne?” Mitsuki said, interrupting his own scattered thoughts. “Not like anyone's going to be giving you a hard time about it, or at least I would hope not. And if they do, well, you can punch them in the face?”

“Oi!” he said, chuckling. “Maa, it's not that....”

“Then … what?

“I don't know, everyone's just been so surprised I can't help thinking it's something I've said or done, but at the same time … I don't know.”

“Sounds like you're over thinking it,” the redhead replied with a soft chuckle, squeezing his shoulders again. “Negi is Negi, I think his brain defaults to thinking everyone is gay or something. As long as you don't start getting weird about the fanservice stuff, I doubt anyone's even going to care. That said, if you ever decide you're curious....”

Junji felt his brain skid to a halt at those last few words. Was Mitsuki … no, this was definitely something where he didn't want to risk making a wrong assumption.

“Didn't kitten say yesterday that you're dating someone?”

“Yeah, a nice girl, Nami, who understands that music is my first love … and thinks it's hot that I'm bisexual. She's worse than Negi about it sometimes, even,” his friend said, laughing. “We won't get into how many times she's tried to get me to either invite kitten over for a threesome or else tape something for her. She got really bad about it right after we released Kyosei.”

“You've been dating that long? I didn't even realize....”

“Ah, well, I didn't start out intending for it to be a big secret, at least not to you guys, it just sort of ended up that way. I guess it kind of became this thing where I wasn't sure what would happen if she and Negi met, so I just kept avoiding letting it happen. She comes to Tokyo shows, sometimes a few others, but we keep it pretty low key at shows. You know how some bangya can get.”

“And Mahi knows because of her threesome suggestions?” he asked, melting into the bedding in spite of their conversational topic. At least they were on the safer ground of Mitsuki's and Mahiro's interests, rather than his own.

“Yeah. I didn't really think he would go for it, just because I always saw him as being pretty monogamous, you know, but you know how I am with lying and I knew she wasn't going to let up until I asked, so.... Ah, I wish I could have taken a picture of his face when I first suggested it, you'd think I had suggested he have tentacle sex with me or something. For someone with his fascination with boobs, he's actually incredibly flaming.”

“Somehow that … doesn't really surprise me,” Junji said, turning his head to glance back at the grinning redhead.

“It did me, though it was pretty funny, the way he reacted. Every time she gets to poking me about it again, I'll ask him again just to see him squirm.”

“Mean sensei,” Junji said with a low chuckle.

“Well, how am I going to know if he's changed his mind if I don't ask? Of course, since he knows it'd be for her, he won't let me tape him, either. Ah, but I guess that's only fair. I trust Nami, but once something like that gets recorded....”

“So the two of you...? And Nami-san's okay with that?”

“Have sex? Yeah, every few weeks or so, depending on how things go. He knows it's just friends with benefits and yeah, of course she's fine with it. She'd be more fine with it with tapes, of course. I've never hidden my bisexuality from her and she was the one that first suggested it.”

Junji lapsed into silence again, wondering at this new information. He wasn't sure if it helped or not, hearing that he hadn't been completely imagining that there was something more between Mahiro and Mitsuki. But they had wandered a little bit away from what he had originally intended to ask, though he wasn't entirely sure he knew how to bring the conversation back around to that, either. Well, he had started this conversation with a direct question, might as well fall back on that.

“Um, what you said earlier … about if I was curious....”

Too late he realized Mitsuki hadn't been massaging so much as stroking his spine for the last little while. A touch that became almost a caress as the redhead chuckled.

“Are you? There's nothing wrong with that, you know.”

“No, I know that, I just … it sounded like you were offering...?”

“Offering to help you find out? Probably because I was,” Mitsuki said, fingers tracing circles on his back. “I wouldn't tell the others, it'd be something between just the two of us. Our little secret.”

Junji glanced back over his shoulder at his friend, but he still didn't feel particularly enlightened. There was a certain … intellectual curiosity lurking about in his head about the whole thing, but that was different. A desire to learn more about something he didn't understand just yet, rather than an interest in actually experiencing it. But he wasn't sure how to explain that, at least not without sounding like either an idiot or a pervert. Or both.

“Come on,” Mitsuki said, the mood of the moment abruptly changing as the redhead slid off the bed with a parting smack on Junji's ass. “Get dressed so we can meet up with the others for dinner.”

A little early for dinner, by Junji's reckoning, but considering how bad all of them could be about actually deciding on a place sometimes … well, it made sense to start the hunt for a good restaurant early. And as for Mitsuki's little offer, well, he just wouldn't think about it anymore, forget it ever happened. Maybe he didn't have much of an answer as to why his bandmates – and who knew how many other people – had just assumed he wasn't straight, but he also didn't really want to think about it any more.

~*~*~

Somehow, even though there were rooms enough for them all this time, after dinner they still all ended up in the room Junji was to share with Mitsuki for the night. They had a movie on the TV, but he didn't think anyone was really paying attention to it. Hiyori was helping Takemasa touch up his green, Mitsuki was poking at something on his laptop (probably yet another composition) and Junji had let Mahiro talk him into letting his friend give him a manicure. He felt a little silly, but his capitulation had made Mahiro so happy, he couldn't really make himself regret it. Though he did wonder why their vocalist was carrying around a bottle of blue nail polish that was just the right shade to match his costume.

“Ne, sensei, has Kujou-san been good enough for that back rub?”

“Hmm … I don't know, all three of you were taking turns pestering Juju while he was driving today. Besides, you aren't even done with your hair yet.”

“Almost done, though. Please, sensei? We all worked so hard last night. It doesn't even have to be a long back rub!”

“Still feels like you're trying to set something up, Negi.”

“Kujou-san has no idea what you're talking about,” their leader replied with a haughty sniff. Not that anyone was buying it, of course, but Junji supposed he had to give him points for trying.

“When you're finished with your hair, but only a short one. And then I'm kicking you all out so I can get some sleep,” Mitsuki declared, laughter alight in his eyes. Junji doubted anyone was surprised how quickly Takemasa managed to finish greening his hair, nor with the way he shimmied out of all but his boxers before sprawling on the other bed.

“Oi, I said back rub, what the hell is all this?” Mitsuki protested, gesturing to the haphazard pile of clothes.

“Mou, but sensei, Kujou-san hurts all over!” 

“Yeah? Well you're still only getting a back rub. You can ask Hiyorin to help you with the rest.”

Takemasa pouted at the redhead for several seconds before huffing a sigh and rolling over to present him with his back. Junji shook his head a little, looking back down at his hands. Mahiro really had done a thorough job, trimming his nails, moisturizing his hands, then painting them blue with a matte silver crackle on the middle two of each hand. Now where on earth had that come from?

“ … you know I'm just going to take this off again in a couple days, ne kitten?”

“Maa, I know, you're so stubborn sometimes,” their vocalist said, pouting a moment before leaning in to plant a quick kiss on his lips. “I'll get you one of these days~”

Junji twitched an eyebrow at that comment, but Mahiro didn't seem inclined to explain, rounding up and putting away everything he had used for the manicure. Junji wasn't used to seeing his hands like this, though he had to admit they felt better – softer, more relaxed – than they had in awhile. Maybe he could leave the polish on for a couple extra days? Mahiro seemed so pleased with himself, he certainly didn't want to risk hurting his feelings so casually, especially over something so small. 

Junji's head jerked up and back towards the other bed when he heard a low, familiar groan. 

“Ooh, oh yes, just like that, sensei~” the green-haired guitarist moaned, making those words sound entirely too sexual for Junji's comfort.

“Right, that's it, you're done,” Mitsuki said, trying to sound cross as he got off the bed. 

“Moouuuuuu, senseeeiiiiiii,” Takemasa whined, rolling over to pout at the redhead again.

“Nope, all done for the night, everybody out. Sensei needs his beauty sleep.”

Takemasa was still grumbling – and pants-less – when Hiyori succeeded in herding him out of the room, Mahiro snickering behind the couple. 

“I can stay, though, right?” he teased, stretching out on his own bed.

“Always, Juju~” the redhead replied, turning away from packing up his laptop to wink at him. The problem with that, though, was that he wasn't really tired enough to be going to bed. And not at all sure what he was going to do if the redhead had been serious about getting his beauty sleep.

“Anything good on?”

“Hmm? Oh, I haven't really checked,” he said, stretching to snag the remote. “I thought you were wanting to go to bed, though?”

“In a bit, yeah. I mostly said that so I could get them out of here. Ok, so I could get Negi out of here, before he tried anything else.”

“Hope springs eternal,” Junji murmured with a chuckle, flipping through the channels.

“A little too eternal sometimes,” Mitsuki agreed. “How are your shoulders holding up?”

“ … you're such a mother hen sometimes,” he teased, flashing his friend a quick grin. “I'm fine, sensei, you can stop fussing, I promise.”

“If I am, it's only because you guys bring it out of me,” the redhead countered with a huff that was soon replaced with a grin. “But all right, I guess I can take your word for it. This time.”

“Of course, of course,” he replied with a chuckle. They had an in-store in the afternoon, but other than that, Junji wasn't quite sure what the plan was. Probably more camera time for the tour document and Negi's blogging exploits. All the more reason to get a good night's sleep while he could.

So why did his bed feel uncomfortably empty with only him in it?


	4. Chapter 4

A low huff of surprise as he felt Mahiro's weight land on top of him. Junji froze at the feel of his friend's lips pressing kisses to his neck, then relaxed. Just Mahiro being Mahiro, no need for concern. Nor did he resist when he felt him rolling him over onto his back. An impish grin as Mahiro settled himself on top of him again, and then he was leaning close, pressing a not at all chaste kiss to his lips. Junji shivered as he returned that kiss, one hand sliding up into Mahiro's hair. He could taste Mahiro's cigarettes and something else, something sweet, as he continued kissing him. Mahiro's hands clenched in his shirt a moment before tugging on it, pushing it up as far as it would go. Fingers danced over Junji's chest, finding and circling a nipple. He gasped at the unexpected sensitivity, gasped again when Mahiro scooted down his legs to tease his nipple with that wicked tongue. Around and around, then flicking the nub before sucking on it, tugging with teeth. And all the while, those fingers did their best to mirror those actions on the other side of his chest as well.

“Hnn … Mahiro....”

“Junji-sensei tastes so good. Mm, I'll bet Junji-kun tastes even better,” the other man purred against his chest, dark eyes locked on his even as the vocalist slid a hand lower, rubbing over the front of Junji's pants. He groaned in spite of himself, hips pushing up into that hand. 

“Mahi....”

“You said anything I wanted, Juju,” the other man purred, still rubbing over the growing bulge in his pants. “I want this. And so do you.”

Junji groaned and shook his head, trying to deny it. Not that it seemed to matter, the way Mahiro was kissing him again. As if that alone would be enough to distract him from the feel of that hand undoing his pants, pushing inside to curl around heated flesh directly.

“I know you want me, Junji,” Mahiro purred, nipping at his lips between words. “Mm, and this is going to feel so good. Just relax, baby, I'll take care of everything~”

Junji jerked awake to a pitch black room, only the thinnest bar of illumination stealing into the room from under the door. Still the middle of the night, just him and a sleeping Mitsuki. No Mahiro, on top of him or otherwise. Just another dream. Rolling over, he pressed his face into his pillow to further smother his groan. This had to be Mitsuki's fault, he hadn't had one of those dreams in over a week now. It had felt so real, too, real enough to leave him with a real problem. Maybe if he thought unsexy thoughts, he could get back to sleep? Then again, what if Mahiro was waiting for him there? He needed his sleep, but he didn't want to get caught back up in that madness.

“You can't just not sleep forever,” he muttered to himself. He was being ridiculous. Dreams didn't lurk in the shadows, waiting to pounce unsuspecting victims. Not even dreams with Mahiro in them. 

~*~*~

“Well you look like shit this morning.”

Junji blinked a couple times, accepting the cup of coffee automatically. 

“Hiyorin....”

“I thought you two were going to bed early, that's why Mitsuki was kicking us out, right? So shouldn't you look _more_ rested that usual, not less?”

“You'd think,” he murmured, sipping his coffee. It was early yet, but Junji hadn't been able to sleep and laying in bed had just been making him feel worse. Curling up in the hotel lounge with his laptop hadn't been that much of an improvement to his mood, but at least this way he could trick himself into feeling productive.

“You know what, when you're done with that … Negi's promised to treat me to Denny's for breakfast. He's going to be another ten minutes, but still, you should join us.”

“I don't want to intrude....”

“No intrusion. In fact, if it helps, think of it as a down payment on those apologies we owe you,” the bassist said, grinning. Junji looked down at his jeans and rumpled shirt, but the truth was, he had already been planning on wearing exactly this today, it was why he'd grabbed them in the first place, so he could hardly claim he wasn't properly dressed. Besides, the blond was wearing one of his more determined looks this morning. And, okay, both the bassist and their dear leader owed him significant apology for their antics on this tour. 

“All right, just let me take this back up to the room so I don't have to carry it around with us,” he said, finishing his coffee before shutting the lid on his laptop. If breakfast was just a down payment, what else could he get for an apology? Maybe this was one IOU he shouldn't cash too easily.

“Junji-sensei!” Takemasa chirped, slinging an arm around his shoulders when he returned to the hotel lounge. Probably just as well one of them was a morning person, but it was still a bit unnerving at times. “Hiyorin says you're joining us for breakfast? Good, good, you look like you could use a good breakfast. And coffee. Someone hasn't been sleeping very well this week.”

That was true enough, he supposed. Between unsettling dreams – even if he didn't always remember them the next morning – and Takemasa's and Hiyori's antics, he had been getting less quality sleep this tour than usual.

“And whose fault would that be, I wonder,” he murmured, biting back a grin at the way his bandmates exchanged slightly guilty looks. It wasn't all their fault, of course, just mostly; at this point, he was pretty sure their little antics were adding further fuel to the mess of thoughts in his head when it came to those dreams. But he wasn't going to admit that it wasn't all them so easily, especially not when it meant things like getting a free breakfast out of the deal.

They made it back to the hotel in time to hear Mahiro whining to Mitsuki about being hungry.

“Oi, where have you three been? Leaving the hotel without even leaving a note to tell us where you went,” Mahiro huffed, pouting liberally at all three of them.

“Well, we weren't sure how late you were going to want to sleep in,” Hiyorin started.

“And Junji-sensei needed some coffee, so we took him with us for pancakes,” Takemasa concluded, nodding with a certain air of self-satisfaction that had Junji biting back a smile. Of course hearing about pancakes only made their vocalist's pout even worse.

“You went out for pancakes without me?? So mean! Sensei, make them stop being so mean to me!”

“... it's a bit late to do anything about it _now_ , kitten,” the redhead countered, shaking his head. “Come on, we'll get our own pancakes.”

“Mou, it's not the same,” Mahiro said, still pouting even as he followed Mitsuki out of the hotel lobby. 

“ … maybe we should go with them?” Hiyori suggested, frowning slightly.

“Why? We just ate,” Junji countered.

“Well, yeah,” the blond agreed, “but we're supposed to be spending the day together. I dunno, it just seems like it'd be easier to go with them now? Rather than waiting around here and making them come back to us first.”

“I'll let Manager-san know so he can have our document crew catch up with us at the restaurant,” Takemasa said, settling the matter for them. As much as his two bandmates had put in front of him at their own breakfast, he didn't think he could eat another bite, but perhaps a cup of tea would be enough?

“Oi, what, you didn't get enough pancakes on your own?” Mahiro mock protested when the three of them caught up with their bandmates.

“Well, you seemed so upset to have missed spending time with us this morning,” Junji started, trailing off with a half shrug, watching the way Mahiro was trying – and failing – to maintain a pout.

“And this way we can go straight on to shopping when you're done~” Takemasa added, winking. “Already messaged Manager-san, so the crew can meet us here.”

“Good idea,” Mitsuki said, nodding and then offering the hostess a charming smile as he asked for a table big enough for all of them. “Was there anything at the hotel still that you were wanting before we went out today, kitten?”

“Probably, but I'll live,” the vocalist said, shrugging as he sat down. “Especially if we're going shopping after this. Can never have too many hats or pairs of sunglasses~”

Certainly sounded like their kitten had made a full recovery. A part of Junji still wondered what it was that had so upset their vocalist, but most of him was just glad that it had resolved itself. He could live with not knowing if it meant he could put the whole thing behind them.

~*~*~

As much as he always genuinely enjoyed meeting with their fans, a part of him was also very glad to be done with their in-store event, lighting up a much-needed cigarette as soon as they were settled at a restaurant for dinner. For the most part, everything had gone perfectly fine – there had only been one really weird question and that had been directed at Takemasa who had, of course, invented an equally creative answer. And, all right, there had been a few girls who had tried for more than just a hug at that part of the event, but still....

His train of thought, such as it was, skidded to a halt as the cigarette was plucked from his lips, Mahiro helping himself to the slender white vice. What the hell?

“Some particular reason you couldn't just light one of your own, kitten?”

“You already had this one started,” Mahiro said, shrugging as he ashed the cigarette before taking another drag. “Well, that … was colorful.”

“That's one way of putting it,” Mitsuki said, reaching across the table to free the cigarette from Mahiro's grasp and taking a drag for himself. Ok, now things were just getting out of hand, though at least the redhead had the courtesy to give the cigarette back to him.

“Eh? I thought the question and answer session was pretty tame,” Hiyori said, giving them a confused frown. “Negi? What did you think?”

“I think … hmm, I think if Junji-sensei is that cranky, then he must've gotten groped a few times more than usual,” their leader said, reaching over to pat him on the head. “Really, Juju, for someone who says he's straight, you get awfully flustered by girls.”

“I didn't realize I had to just grin and take it when a girl decides to grab a handful to prove I'm straight,” he muttered around the butt of his cigarette. And again, as abruptly as the first time, it was plucked from his lips. Claimed by Mahiro yet again. Worse, the greedy little hobbit wasn't giving it back.

“At least it's just the girls?” Mahiro ventured, taking a final drag from his purloined cigarette before stubbing it out in the ashtray at the center of the table. “Or are you getting handsy fanboys now, too?”

“Not yet,” he admitted, waiting to see if the vocalist would offer up a smoke of his own. “And you're more than welcome to keep them all to yourself, thank you.”

“Aww, but Juju, where's the fun in that? Kitten has to share the love~”

“Since when does kitten share anything?” he teased. A beat more and he gave up on Mahiro's manners, lighting another cigarette from his dwindling supply. He was going to have to drop into a combini on their way back to the hotel, he supposed. A thought he repeated to himself when Mahiro lifted this one from his fingers as well.

“Oi, I was smoking that,” he half grumbled, poking the singer's side.

“Mm, and now I am~” Mahiro replied, an unrepentant grin bright on his face. 

“ … you're impossible, you know that?” he huffed, trying to project proper annoyance. It wasn't that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, true, but it was the principle of the matter. “What's wrong with your pack?”

“It's empty,” the vocalist said with a shrug, flicking ash from the tip. Not so implausible, really, if a little surprising. They had, after all, been out and about all day, wandering the city for a couple of hours. Plenty of chances for Mahiro to have bought another pack, so why hadn't he? Not that it mattered, he admitted, watching the way lips closed around the end.

“And you couldn't just ask me for one because...?”

“Mou, Junji-kun, you don't have to say it like that,” Mahiro purred, suddenly pressed up close to his side. “You know I'm good for it, ne? Anything Junji-sama wants~”

Junji snatched up the younger man's wrist before his hand could wander any lower. He knew, from the grin on his friend's face, exactly what he had intended, never mind that they were sitting in the middle of a very public place. And in front of Takemasa who would, of course, take any such action as further encouragement of his own perverse agenda. He was surrounded by impossible people. And yet he couldn't say he especially wanted things to change.

Well, no, that wasn't entirely true. He would lose no sleep if their leader suddenly decided to drop his quest for a band orgy, but even that was a small enough change that was bound to come about sooner or later anyway. He wasn't sure what they could do to encourage Takemasa along to his next obsession, but something would come along eventually.

~*~*~

By the time Junji was being allowed to crawl into his bed at the hotel, he was completely exhausted, only one thought on his mind. He was so focused, for a long moment he didn't even notice the hands working on his shoulders. Not until thumbs dug into a particularly bad knot that had him yelping, pained tears springing to his eyes.

“Sorry, sorry,” Mahiro mumbled, though he didn't let up. The vocalist was settled across his hips, quite effectively keeping him pinned face down on the bed. But what was he doing in his room in the first place?

“Oi, be careful with him, we've got a live tomorrow, remember?” Mitsuki scolded from across the room. “Need him at one hundred percent!”

“I wasn't expecting his shoulders to still be in this shape after, what, three nights of massages? Really, Juju, you need to learn to relax. Carrying this much stress around all the time isn't healthy,” their vocalist scolded fondly. He should have noticed sooner that Mahiro had been working on him. His hands were smaller, didn't have the same power to them. Or maybe he had been doing that on purpose? Junji mentally shook himself, told himself to just relax. Which became decidedly easier when Mahiro shifted from digging thumbs into his back to simply rubbing his palms up and down his spine.

“What brought this on?” he murmured, glancing back at his friend as best he could.

“Well, you were pouting about me stealing cigarettes from you at dinner, so.... Feeling better?”

“I wasn't pouting,” he mumbled in protest, familiar annoyance creeping up his spine. He could feel Mahiro moving, resettling himself until he was laying half on top of Junji, an arm tucked around his shoulders. 

“Pouting, not pouting, doesn't matter, ne?” Mahiro murmured, brushing a kiss to his cheek. “Anything else I can do to help you get some better sleep tonight?”

Junji closed his teeth on the urge to reject the other man's offer out of hand, for all that he didn't really think there was anything Mahiro could do for him that wouldn't just exacerbate matters when it came to those unwanted dreams. He had to at least pretend to think about it, which he did for a couple of minutes before shaking his head.

“It's fine, Mahi,” he mumbled.

“You could stay the night in his bed, that might help,” Mitsuki suggested from across the room and a part of him wanted to throw something at the redhead. Or wring his neck. “I think he got used to the idea of sharing after all those nights cuddling with you.”

“Oh-ho, is that what it is?” Mahiro teased, lightly poking him in the ribs.

“Oi, I was getting shitty sleep on this tour well before last night,” he mock grumbled, holding back a smile. The redhead might be right, having Mahiro cuddled up with him might help, as empty as the bed had felt last night. It wouldn't help him with his dream problem, but he wasn't going to refuse, either. And not just because even attempting such a refusal would probably send the vocalist back into a pout.

“Mm, whatever you say, Juju. You know, if you want cuddles, all you have to do is ask, ne?” the singer said, shifting and sliding off of him. Finally free to do so, Junji rolled over and sat up a bit. Mitsuki was, perhaps unsurprisingly, settled in his own bed, shirtless, with his laptop open in front of him. 

“ … don't you ever stop working?” Junji half teased, shaking his head. And again that wondering thought if there was anything more than music and Miku-san in his friend's head.

“Oi. If you must know, I'm writing a blog entry. You should probably do one yourself again soon. You've gone a couple days without updates, your fangirls are starting to worry about you,” the redhead teased. Rolling his eyes, Junji grabbed his phone from the nightstand. He wasn't sure he believed the assertion that his fans were worried by his lack of updates – this was hardly the first time he had taken an unannounced break from blogging for a couple of days – but as long as the lights were all on anyway.... He'd just upload a snapshot from dinner and wish everyone a good night. Halfway through, he changed his mind, switching the dinner shot for one of the other side of his bed. More appropriate to the entry. And the fangirls would just eat up the implied invitation to join him. A quick check of his bandmates' blogs showed that he hadn't been the only one to have such an idea – Negi's blog was already sporting an artfully decorated shot of Hiyorin supposedly sleeping.

“Ok, you two, enough is enough, kitten says it's bedtime!” Mahiro declared abruptly, snatching Junji's phone out of his hands only to practically sprawl across him so he could set it down on the nightstand. What a silly kitten their Mahiro was. But then what else was new?

“All right, all right,” Mitsuki mock-grumbled, though he couldn't quite hide his smile when he got up to turn out the lights. Junji waited a beat, but Mahiro seemed to not realize that he was going to have to move from his sprawl across his lap. Or else he was doing it on purpose. Probably the latter.

“You know, kitten, I can't exactly sleep like this,” he said, lightly poking his shoulder. 

“But Junji makes such a good pillow!” his friend retorted, pouting up at him. Rolling his eyes, he poked him again without really expecting it to have an effect. So he was more than a little surprised when Mahiro abruptly sat up and kissed him full on the mouth. And not a particularly chaste kiss, either, though it was over too quickly for Junji to do anything about it.

“M-mahi...?”

“Hmm?”

“What … I … what was that?”

Mahiro rolled his eyes at that, sliding off the bed to wiggle out of his clothes. Shaking his head, telling himself to just forget about it, he discarded his own tee before attempting to make himself comfortable. He felt the bed shift as Mahiro joined him, pressing against his back for a moment, then pulling back to poke at him instead.

“Oi, quit that, I thought you wanted sleep?” he mumbled, not wanting to disturb Mitsuki.

“I do,” the vocalist replied, similarly subdued, “that's why I'm poking you. Come on, roll over so we can cuddle properly.”

Junji didn't know what was so wrong with the way he was laying, but Mahiro kept poking him. Huffing a soft sigh, he gave in to the prodding, rolling over onto his back. Immediately, Mahiro was tucking himself against his side, head resting on Junji's shoulder while an arm curled around his waist. Maybe in other circumstances he would have objected to sleeping like this with another guy, but … it was Mahiro. He had a hard time saying no to anything Mahiro wanted these days and he wasn't sure he wanted to think about why that was. 

“Shh, stop thinking so much and go to sleep,” Mahiro scolded, brushing a kiss to his neck. “Pretty Juju needs his rest for tomorrow's live~”

“Oi, watch it,” he mock grumbled, swatting at his friend's butt. Mahiro only giggled and wiggled closer. Whatever, at least Mahiro was nice and warm.

~*~*~

The conclusion of another successful tour meant finally being allowed to crawl into his own bed. They still had the the tour finale left, but that wasn't for a few days yet. And he needed to do laundry, but that could definitely wait another day. He hadn't slept in his own bed for so long, he had almost forgotten how good it felt. Just himself and his bed, no one else around to disrupt his sleep with snoring or worse. Like a little piece of heaven.

A heaven that was disrupted far too soon for his liking by the feel of someone joining him in his bed. Yet when he tried to move, to see who it was, arms tightened around his waist from behind him, keeping him from seeing who had invaded his apartment without even bothering to ask him for permission first. Had to be a bandmate, he couldn't think of anyone else with a key to his apartment who would also be so bold with his bed and his person. But since he wasn't being allowed to see who, exactly, he quietly gave up the attempt, settling and telling himself to go back to sleep. He would find out who it was in the morning.

Finding one person in his bed the next morning would have been startling enough, even with being woken in the middle of the night by said person. Junji wasn't at all sure what to think of the discovery of not only Mahiro but also Mitsuki in his bed the next morning. Though their both being there did explain how he had ended up on such a small section of the bed.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Mitsuki murmured, catching him badly off guard yet again. “Sorry for the invasion. Kitten wouldn't take no for an answer.”

Not hard to imagine, the way Mahiro was curled half around, half on top of Junji even still. He would not be going anywhere until Mahiro was good and ready to either get up as well or at least let go of him. Which begged the question of why. And why, for that matter, Mahiro had insisted on dragging Mitsuki along with him. 

“I can probably rouse him for you if I get a pot of coffee started,” the redhead offered softly from Mahiro's other side. Junji watched the way his friend trailed a hand down Mahiro's side and wondered yet again what their kitten of a vocalist could possibly want from him. 

“Mm, in a minute,” he hummed a beat later. “Don't suppose you know why he was being so pushy?”

“Mahi? Not really, no. I mean, I'm sure he had a reason, I just don't know what it was. Other than that he needed me to drive him over here, since it was after midnight when he decided he needed to stage this little invasion,” his friend replied, half shrugging without meeting his eyes. Curiouser and curiouser, as the saying went. Not like Mitsuki to be so reticent with him. Well, he supposed there was nothing for it but to wait for Mahiro to actually wake up, ask him then just what the vocalist had thought he was doing, crawling into his bed in the middle of the night like he had. In the mean time...

“Or you could take advantage of him and get some more sleep, you stubborn ox,” Mitsuki teased softly, almost as if the other man had been reading his thoughts. “You're still looking pretty sleep deprived, and as long as he isn't going to let you up anyway....”

Junji nodded, feeling himself relaxing in spite of his intentions. The bed was certainly warm enough, even if he didn't have as much of it as he would have liked. Wouldn't even be the first time he'd had to make do with so little. A couple more hours and he'd be good, ready to poke their kitten vocalist into telling him what was really going on with him this time.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee roused him a couple hours later. Or perhaps it was the way Mahiro was wiggling around, trying to unwrap himself from all the blankets with which the younger man had, somehow or another, managed to completely cocoon himself. No wonder he was feeling chilled; their silly kitten could be so greedy sometimes. Junji had to bite back a laugh when a muffled whine rose out of the lump of blanket. 

“Let me guess,” he said, pushing himself up a bit and resting a hand on the lump, “you can't get out.”

Another muffled noise, a huff of discontent that was likely as close as Mahiro was going to get to a confession. In spite of his better intentions, Junji couldn't hold back a chuckle, hands running over the Mahiro-lump in the middle of his bed to find one edge of blanket. 

“Oi, you know I could get you out of this faster if you'd stay still for a bit,” he scolded lightly. The vocalist stilled obediently enough, though not without another annoyed whine. But true to his word, Junji was able to free his friend much more easily once he wasn't having to compete with or compensate for the other man's wiggling.

“Maybe next time you won't horde your way into a cocoon?” he teased when he finally had the other man mostly unwrapped. Mahiro huffed as if offended, though before their kitten could formulate a proper protest, he seemed to notice the smell of fresh coffee and bacon sizzling in a pan. And just like that, Mahiro was up and away, completely unconcerned with his lack of clothing. Junji sighed, wishing he could be surprised at the discovery that his vocalist had been essentially naked in his bed all night.

Hurrying through a shower, Junji grabbed the first clean clothes to come to hand, dressing equally quickly before joining his bandmates in the kitchen. Mitsuki had clearly been keeping himself busy while they slept, the table set with plates of pancakes, bacon and sausage, fried eggs and toast.

“Expecting to feed an army, sensei?” he teased as he made himself a cup of coffee.

“Yeah, an army of one tour-starved kitten,” he teased back, reaching over to ruffle Mahiro's hair. At least the vocalist had taken advantage of his showering to raid his closet for a bathrobe. Unsurprisingly, the younger man wasn't offering any protests, instead happily munching on a strip of bacon. Shaking his head, Junji settled at the table and helped himself to a couple of pancakes. Way too much food, but he appreciated the gesture.

“So, kitten, got plans for today?”

“Mm. After breakfast, I thought I'd borrow your shower and then you're taking me shopping.”

“Oh I am, am I?” he asked, biting back a laugh.

“Yup. I have to pick up something, but it's going to be a gift for sensei, so you're going to have to take me instead,” the other man said with a matter of fact nod. “But just a short trip, cuz I'd really rather be spending the day sprawled on your couch. But the shop's already been holding the item for four days, so I really need to pick that up today. Then back here so I can make you watch this new anime with me~ And sensei'll do your laundry while we're out, so you can't use that as an excuse not to take me out shopping.”

“I wouldn't dream of it,” he replied, glancing sidelong at the redhead. But if he had any objections to Mahiro's little plan, Mitsuki wasn't showing any hint of it. Perhaps a little odd that Mahiro was wanting to spend a whole day with him coming right off a tour, but who was he to tell him no? Especially when what the vocalist was planning all sounded so innocuous. He didn't know what his angle was, but maybe it didn't really matter?

~*~*~

No more than a few minutes after they had returned to his apartment, Mahiro was sprawling himself out on Junji's couch with a relieved groan. Junji was inclined to agree with that sentiment, not just because he felt half frozen and more than a little hungry. 

“Oh there you are. You guys were out a lot longer than I was expecting,” Mitsuki said, frowning at them.

“Yes, well, that would be because kitten got us lost. Twice. And of course he wouldn't let me call you for directions,” Junji said, sighing as he hung up his coat. A cup of tea would make for a good start, at least.

“Because then he would have known where we had gone and that would spoil the surprise!” Mahiro protested, rolling over onto his back to mock-glower at him. “If I wanted him guessing what it was all day, I would've just had him take me in the first place!”

“Does that mean I don't get to see what it is yet?”

“Absolutely not,” Junji said firmly before Mahiro could say anything one way or the other. He could feel the odd look Mitsuki was giving him as he headed into his own kitchen, but it couldn't really be helped. One thing to agree to take Mahiro shopping – and if he had known _that_ was where the other had intended to go, he might not have agreed so easily – and another thing to let their kitten involve him in such things any more than that. Not that he didn't have every faith in Mitsuki's ability to keep Mahiro under control, it just....

“Okay, you,” Mitsuki said, startling him by suddenly catching him with arms around his waist, words warm against his cheek. “What's gotten into you now?”

“Mitsuki … I'm fine,” he said, trying to pull free, only to have the guitarist's arms tighten around him. This was no way to get tea made. He laid a chilled hand on top of Mitsuki's hands, but the other man still didn't release him.

“I suppose being that cold would explain the cranky, but this sounds like more than just you being cold,” the redhead said. “And you know I'm not going to let go of you until you tell me what's going on, so you might as well just confess.”

“There's nothing to confess,” he grumbled, annoyed with how annoyed he sounded.

“Bullshit,” the redhead grumbled back, arms squeezing around him again. “I've known you too long now, old friend. Talk to me.”

Junji huffed again, though he felt himself relaxing back against the other man anyway. He always did; as long as they had been friends, Mitsuki had always been able to get him to relax, unwind, even when it wasn't what he wanted. Curse the man anyway. 

“Come on, Juju, fess up. Before kitten starts getting paranoid and worried. And you know he will.”

“It's nothing, sensei,” he said, sighing as he leaned into his arms a bit more. How was he going to explain what had happened without giving away where they had gone? There really wasn't any way and if he did that, Mahiro would be upset with him. If he wasn't already. But really, what had he expected? How many times now had Junji explained that he wasn't interested in the vocalist's advances, and still he tried? His own fault for being so pushy … not that Mahiro would see it that way, of course.

“You're such stubborn mules sometimes, the both of you,” the redhead said after a bit, sighing heavily and resting his chin on Junji's shoulder. “All right, fine, I'll talk to him again about his pushing. Two of a kind. You _do_ realize that he's only doing this because he loves you, right?”

Junji was certain that tidbit had been intended to make him feel better, but it really didn't help at all. Things were already awkward enough at times, knowing that this wasn't just a perverse need on Mahiro's part to get into his pants, that it went further than that for the singer … it didn't make anything better or easier.

“You two better be making me some hot chocolate in there!” Mahiro called out from the lounge. At least their kitten didn't _sound_ like he was harboring some deep upset. Maybe Junji really was overreacting.

“Guess we better get on that,” Mitsuki said, squeezing him again before letting go with a chuckle. Junji certainly wasn't going to argue with that, moving away to make a cup of tea for himself.

“Oi, kitten, while you're waiting, why don't you order us something to eat,” Mitsuki called out to the other room in suggestion. Unexpectedly, Mahiro was suddenly standing in the kitchen doorway, already changed into the flannel pajamas he had bought while they were out.

“Mou, sensei, you didn't cook for us?”

“Oi, I'm not a domestic!” the redhead protested with a laugh. “I wasn't expecting you two to be gone more than half an hour, an hour at the most, the way you were talking at breakfast. When you didn't come back that quickly, well, I didn't know how long you were going to be out, so....”

“Oh fine,” Mahiro huffed, though the bemused light in his eyes belied the pout he was trying to give them. “Juju, where's the best place around here for gyoza?”

“Kitten is nothing if not predictable,” Junji teased, chuckling as he walked over to the fridge, pulling a take-out menu from the collection and handing it to Mahiro. “This one's probably the best, between having delivery and being quick. But do order a proper lunch, ne? I'm starving, too.”

“Hai, hai, I know how to keep my men fed~!” the vocalist chirped before bouncing out of the kitchen. Hardly the first time Mahiro had made a comment like that, but after the morning's events – and Mitsuki's words – they felt different. And Junji didn't want to spend any more time thinking about them or about why.


	5. Chapter 5

Alone at last, Junji sprawled on his bed and stared up at his ceiling. He loved his bandmates, he really did, but he needed a break. Some time on his own and then maybe some time spent with friends outside the band? He hadn't really spent time with anyone except his bandmates since before the tour began, unless you counted fans and staff. And even then, he'd usually had one or more of this bandmates along with him, too.

Snatching his phone from the night stand, he went with the first number to come to mind.

_“Senpai?”_

“Hey Tomoyan, I'm not disturbing you, am I?”

 _“Mm, nah, it's fine,”_ the younger drummer said, though Junji could hear the yawn in the other man's voice. Well, it was getting a bit late in the evening, he supposed. Perhaps a slight adjustment in his plans, such as they were, was in order.

“Sounds like it's been a bit of a week.”

 _“Mm, well, you know how Koudai gets sometimes,”_ Tomoya replied, chuckling. _“But I'm pretty sure that's not why senpai called~”_

“Oi, what, I can't just pick up the phone and see how my kouhai is doing?” he asked in feigned indignant protest.

 _“Oh of course you can, senpai. But you don't,”_ the other man teased.

“Well, if you're going to be that way about it, I guess I can keep those banana chocolate chip muffins in my kitchen.”

 _“Mou, senpaiiiiii,”_ Tomoya whined and Junji couldn't keep from laughing a bit at that. Not that he actually had any such muffins, but it wouldn't take him that long to whip up a batch.

“Oh, so you want the muffins?” he teased, grinning to himself. “How about I bring them for breakfast tomorrow and you can provide the coffee?”

 _“Deal!”_ the younger drummer agreed with an audible grin. _“Bright and early or are we going for something more human, like after seven?”_

“I've got the next two days free, so whenever you want to get up will be fine with me.”

_“Then definitely, after seven. Maybe even after eight? Do you think you can sleep that late, senpai~?”_

“Oi, watch it,” he replied, chuckling all the same. “How about eight-thirty, then? You can get all the beauty sleep you need that way, right?”

_“Oi, just because some of us don't have your easy beauty...”_

“Maa, there's nothing easy about looking this good, Tomoyan, I promise you that,” he teased, mentally making a note to set an alarm for himself. He rarely slept that late, but it wouldn't hurt to have one just in case.

 _“Yeah, yeah, senpai's life is so hard,”_ Tomoya said, chuckling. _“So if you're off tomorrow all day, does that mean I can drag senpai out with me after breakfast?”_

“As long as being dragged out doesn't include shopping in weird stores, then sure, I'm all yours.”

_“Weird stores? Or is this one of those things where I don't really want to know?”_

“You could probably figure it out on your own with a little thought,” he said, shrugging. “Tomorrow breakfast, don't forget and sleep late~”

With a laugh and a last promise not to forget, Tomoya wished him sweet dreams before breaking the connection. Junji would just get those muffins made before he let himself get distracted with anything else. He wasn't quite sure he was ready for bed, but maybe a bit of gaming while the muffins baked? And if his luck with that got to be too terrible, he could always curl up with one of the half dozen or so books he had been meaning to read for months now. 

~*~*~

Junji hadn't really been expecting anything specific, so when Tomoya suggested they go shopping after breakfast, he had been just fine with that. Shopping wasn't his usual method of relaxing, that was more kitten's style, but he was willing to go along with whatever Tomoya wanted to do. Anything to get out of his own apartment and his own life for a few hours, even if it meant letting his kouhai talk him into buying clothes he didn't really need.

And then Tomoya had tugged him into the music store they were in now and, well.... His attention kept slipping from his own browsing to watching the way Tomoya would light up like a kid in a candy store. He was actually completely happy with his own kit at the moment, though he was going to have to order some more drum heads and sticks soon. It had been a long tour and every stop had meant tossing a couple into the audience. Plus the half dozen or so that had snapped.

“Ah, senpai, Koudai-kun is wondering if we'd like to meet him for lunch?”

“Makku?”

“Ok, now I can tell you've been on tour too long, you've been spending too much time with Mitsuki-senpai,” Tomoya teased. “Next you'll be talking about Starbucks all the time, too!”

“I can think of worse fates~” he said, chuckling. “Lunch anywhere is fine, you know me, I'm easy.”

“Tenya it is~!” Tomoya laughed, leading the way out of the store.

Junji was a little surprised at the genuine surprise and pleasure that lit up Koudai's face when they met up with him, though he quickly smoothed it over to return the enthusiastic hug his kouhai was giving him. As bouncy and cheerful as the redhead was, it was no surprise to hear he'd just come from coffee with Mitsuki. Little else could put the bassist into quite that happy a mood.

They were still lingering over lunch when Tomoya suddenly pulled his phone out, frowning at it a second.

“Ah crap, I forgot I had a hair appointment! Sorry, senpai, but Koudai-kun can take care of you from here on out!”

Before Junji could even say anything, the younger drummer was up and practically running out the door.

“That seems an odd thing to forget,” he said, frowning at the swiftly disappearing drummer's back.

“Especially since his girlfriend's a hairstylist, so it probably means she's having some emergency,” Koudai said, toying with his tea cup.

“... so why not just say that?”

“Because he doesn't want anyone knowing that he's dating someone. I don't think he remembers, but the last time the two of them had a bad fight, he got drunk and landed on my doorstep. 'S'how I know about it.”

Junji nodded slowly; he supposed that made sense. Sort of. Especially if Tomoya was worried about bangya doing something despicable to his girlfriend. And it wasn't like Tomoya was the first or the only friend to be hiding a girlfriend from him, though Mitsuki had at least come clean about his own secret.

“Anyway, if you want to go do something on your own now, it's fine. Looks like you guys did a good bit of shopping already, but we could do some more if you wanted. Or there's an arcade and cinema just a couple blocks that way.”

“I don't think there's anything playing that I'm interested in watching that I haven't already seen,” Junji said, shrugging. “And if I'm going to be gaming, I'd rather do it at home. At least then I have a better chance of knowing what I'm doing?”

“You mean senpai won't win a giant Gloomy Bear for me?” Koudai teased, faking a wounded pout at him.

“If Kou-chan wants one that badly, I think we'd be better off just going to a toy store,” he countered, chuckling.

“Okay!” the bassist said, bouncing up to his feet. “All done with lunch?”

“... you're serious?” he said as he got up himself. “Koudai-kun, I was joking.”

“... but ... but senpai,” Koudai wibbled and while Junji was mostly sure the other man was just messing with him, that pathetic face was impossible to resist.

“All right, all right,” he said, snatching up their ticket so he could pay. “One Gloomy Bear for Kou-chan, coming up.”

As expected, the pout went away too quickly to have been real. And yet he knew he wasn't going to be able to wiggle out of this one. And he was fine with that.

~*~*~

Despite his fears, the Gloomy Bear Koudai eventually picked out for himself was only slightly bigger than the usual plushies, not even half the bassist's size. And it was now sitting on Junji's couch between them while they played video games and polished off a pizza. 

“Oh I give up,” Koudai said abruptly, setting his controller on the coffee table before standing. “Junji-senpai is too good at this game. I'm going to make some tea, want anything?”

Junji caught the bassist's wrist when the other moved to pass him. “Hold on, sit back down, you. I'm the host, I'll do the fetching,” he said, setting down his own controller. “What do you want?”

“Actually,” Koudai replied, his voice suddenly dropping in pitch and a devious grin appearing on his face, “what I want is right here.”

Just like that, the redhead was dropping into Junji's lap, scooting in close and pressing a kiss to unsuspecting lips. A soft, coaxing kiss that was more like an invitation, rather than the demanding kisses Mahiro had been planting on him throughout the tour. At first, Junji was too startled to even think; he never would have expected something like this from Koudai. And then he was pulling back just enough to frown at his lapful of redhead.

“Koudai-kun, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like, senpai?” the redhead purred, smirking as he loosely looped arms around Junji's neck. “Ah, I've been waiting to do that all afternoon. Bit disappointing, though, I'm sure senpai can do better. Should we try that again then?”

Koudai started to lean in close again, but Junji held him back.

“All afternoon, huh? Since when? Did Mahiro-kun put you up to this?”

“Oh fine,” his lapful said with a heavy sigh. “You caught me. Sensei said this morning you were curious, but he thought I'd be a better match for you, what with him being less flexible.”

Junji could feel his frown deepening, annoyance blossoming in his stomach. Yes, he had confessed to some curiosity to Mitsuki, but he had expected that confession to be kept private. As conflicted as he still felt about the whole thing himself, to find out that his friend had not only broken his trust, talking about him behind his back like this, but that he had done so with a kouhai no less ... he really didn't know what else he should feel _but_ angry. And if he had been willing to talk to Koudai, then who else might he have told?

“Ah! Such a scary face!” Koudai said softly, running a hand through Junji's hair. “It's not like this was some big plan to seduce you or anything, I wasn't even expecting to see you today. Or is that scary face because Sensei was telling me about you being bi-curious?”

Before he could properly formulate a response, Koudai was leaning in and kissing him again. But he was too angry, too hurt for such games, forcing Koudai back with a shove ... that sent the bassist sprawling off his lap and thunking heavily onto the floor.

“S-senpai....”

In a heartbeat he was on the floor as well, checking the younger man for injuries. “I'm so sorry,” he half stammered. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean –.”

Koudai interrupted his apologies with another kiss before he spoke: “I know. Sensei said you were having a lot of conflicted feelings, I just wasn't expecting them to be _that_ conflicted.”

“It's not just that,” he said, moving to lean back against the couch. To his surprise, Koudai followed him, crawling back into his lap and leaning against his chest. Well, at least this time he couldn't push him into falling?

“You're mad at sensei,” the redhead murmured as he settled against his chest.

“Which is no excuse for pushing you like that.”

“No serious harm done, though if you want to make it up to me, I can think of something~” he said, teasing him.

“Such as?” he asked, almost afraid to know.

“Such as a nice hot bubble bath and a back rub?” his kouhai suggested, batting lashes at him. A part of him wanted to roll his eyes at such antics, but instead he felt himself chuckling.

“I suppose it's the least I can do, right? But that means you have to get up off me.”

Koudai pouted a little longer, seeming to be considering this, then grinned and bounced up to his feet as if everything were completely normal. Had he been faking it this whole time? Or was he faking it now? Junji wasn't sure he could tell, following the redhead into his bathroom. 

“ ... should I be worried that you knew exactly where to find that?” he asked when the bassist handed him a bottle of lavender-scented bubble bath.

“It's not that big a bathroom, senpai,” Koudai replied, chuckling. He couldn't very well argue that point, opting instead to start their bath, turning the water up as hot as it would go for awhile before turning it down to something more normal. To his surprise, the redhead started rubbing his back while they waited for the tub to fill.

“You don't have to do that,” Junji mumbled, not really wanting to discourage him.

“Your back's a mess, I think you could use this bath more than me ... join me?”

Junji hesitated, frowning at the bubbly water. It was just a bath and his body was already quite willing to remind him that not only was he not as young as he used to be, but this last tour had put a lot more strain on his back than usual. Probably because that was where he carried most of his stress and, well.... 

“Please? Just a bath, ne? I'll even skip the back rub and give you one instead after.”

“All right, but you don't have to give me a back rub, just the bath will be fine.”

He could almost feel the skeptical look he suspected Koudai was giving him. As soon as he was satisfied at the water level, he twisted off the taps and started undressing, unsurprised to find Koudai already giving himself a quick scrub. He was a little surprised to find the bassist waiting for him to finish his own quick scrub, until he noticed him taking and retaking pictures of the bubbles.

“They just don't photograph right,” the redhead huffed at last, chuckling. “Maybe when I'm sitting in them it'll work?”

“Seems to work for Tomoyan,” he said, shrugging and sinking himself into the almost too hot water. Koudai laughed and waited for Junji to settle before joining him.

“Oi, move your legs and share,” the bassist mock grumbled. This time Junji didn't bother to refrain from rolling his eyes, drawing his legs up to his chest. The bassist's phone snapped another picture and then he was setting it aside, out of the way. He then twisted around to frown at him. What was wrong now? He was sharing the tub as best he could, it wasn't his fault if it wasn't as big as Tomoyan's appeared to be.

“Oh relax, no one will know I was in a tub with you, senpai,” Koudai teased. “We'll fit better if you let me sit between your legs.”

Junji had his doubts, but that look was one that said Koudai wasn't going to take no for an answer. Stage muttering about power-crazed band leaders, he let himself be pushed into sitting the way Koudai suggested. And maybe it was the hot water and the bubbles going to his head, but it was starting to look like the bassist may have been right, the way the younger man settled against him. He sank a little lower as he leaned against the edge of the tub, scooting the bassist along with him. This wasn't so bad, cuddling like this. Unusual, yes - these days the bulk of his cuddling was reserved for his bandmates, and most of that commandeered by a certain kitten vocalist - but not as uncomfortable as he had been fearing. 

“Mm, told you, you needed this,” Koudai mumbled, lips lightly brushing against his neck. Junji huffed without really arguing, eyes closing as he relaxed into the warmth of the water. The bassist had been right, he _had_ needed this. But he was still going to kick Mitsuki's ass later.

The warm water was making him fuzzy, lazy and indolent. That was the only reason he wasn't stopping Koudai's little caresses, fingers that trailed down his chest and side. That was why he barely offered a noise at the little kisses brushing along his neck and jaw. He was half asleep and they didn't really mean anything.

“You're making this too easy, senpai,” Koudai murmured, lips brushing against his jaw.

“Hmm?”

“I bet I could do anything to you right now,” the bassist murmured, one finger slowly circling a nipple. That was enough to wake Junji up a bit more, his own hand coming up to catch the redhead's wrist.

“Not quite, puppy,” he mumbled, eyes cracking open to see a far too innocent-seeming smile on his kouhai's face.

“Just once? I won't tell Mahiro-senpai,” Koudai said softly, pressing soft kisses to Junji's jaw between each phrase.

“Koudai-kun....” he murmured, not sure what it was he was wanting to say. 

“Still so tense, senpai ... really, you need to learn how to relax more,” the redhead teased, smirking as he freed his wrist. “If the bath isn't working, perhaps we need to move on to step two?”

“Step two?”

“I promised you a back rub, senpai, although if you don't relax, I may have to give you a more thorough massage than that,” he said and somehow that sounded almost like a threat. Or maybe he was just losing his mind.

“Maybe in a little bit,” Junji said, closing his eyes again. Koudai didn't argue, snuggling up to him again and resuming those soft butterfly kisses to his neck. He probably should have been stopping him, but a part of him was enjoying the attention, even if it was coming from a kouhai and instead of a girlfriend.

“Mm, okay sleepyhead, time to get out of the bath before you turn into a prune.”

Junji blinked, startled to find Koudai standing beside the tub, wrapped in his bathrobe and holding a towel for him. Had he actually fallen asleep? It was starting to look a bit like it, and that was more than a little disconcerting.

“Mm, sorry,” he mumbled as he pulled himself out of the now somewhat tepid water. “Guess the bath was more relaxing than you thought?”

“Either that or senpai is more run-down than he thought~?” Koudai offered, chuckling a little. “It's all right, I'll just put you to bed and see myself out.”

“Or you could stay.”

Now what on earth had prompted him to say that? Koudai looked a little startled by the offer as well. Time to try to cover his ass, it seemed.

“I mean, it was getting late before my little nap, so, you know, it's probably late enough now to where I'd be a bad senpai to send you out into the cold, right?” he said, wrapping himself in the towel. “My bed's plenty big enough for the both of us.”

“... but senpai, I don't even have a pair of clean boxers with me,” Koudai said with an innocent expression that was so obviously faked, Junji almost laughed out loud.

“I think we can find something suitable for sleeping for you, Kou-chan,” he said as he headed for the bedroom.

Somehow, he couldn't really make himself feel surprised when he felt the bassist pressing up against his back. Koudai had already twice threatened him with a back rub, after all. Even if those threats had been thin cover for something else.

“I suppose you don't really need the back rub anymore,” Koudai murmured, arms circling Junji's waist so he could rub hands up and down his chest. “Not that I'm not still willing, of course.”

“How about,” he said, easily turning around to hand a pair of boxers to the bassist, “I go make sure everything is turned off and locked down for the night and then you can check my back for me?”

He probably shouldn't have been encouraging the younger man, a thought he heard himself silently repeating at the way Koudai grinned at him, but ... too late now? It didn't take him long to make sure things were the way he wanted them for the night, though he couldn't help a slight frown when he noticed Koudai perched on his bed with a bottle of massage oil.

“If you keep finding all my things without asking, I'm going to start worrying here,” he teased.

“Like I said before, senpai, it's a small bathroom,” Koudai replied, shrugging and patting the bed. “Come on, I know baths are magical, but I doubt even a bath with me is magical enough to fix your shoulders completely.”

Junji rolled his eyes, though he still stretched out on his bed, face down. And hissed when probing fingers found a tight knot of muscle. Koudai tsked at him but set to work without another word and even when it hurt it felt good. 

At some point, Koudai asked him to roll over, and though he wasn't sure why, he did. The bassist straddled his thighs again, slowly kneading Junji's shoulders. Even in the low light, there was something about Koudai's face, something about that too neutral expression. 

“... Kou-chan, you don't have to do this,” he murmured, rubbing one hand along his arm. “You don't have to stay.”

“One chance, right?” the bassist said, shaking his head slightly. The words didn't really make any sense to Junji, but then he still wasn't sure what was wrong, either. He wasn't even sure how to ask, almost relieved when Koudai kissed him before he could say anything else. This kiss was different from the others, desperately needy. Maybe that was why he was actually responding this time, fingers sliding up into disheveled hair. Koudai let out a low noise not unlike a whine as Junji kept kissing him, following the taste of cigarettes and beer and something more into his mouth. A tiny voice wanted to know just what it was Junji thought he was doing, but he couldn't answer it, so he did his best to ignore it. Which got harder when Koudai suddenly sat back, panting slightly.

“Senpai...”

“You've been wanting me to kiss you like that all evening, right?” he asked softly, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

“Longer, but that's not ... I'm sorry, I thought I could do this, seduce you just this once, satisfy your curiosity, and be fine with it. But....”

“It's all right, Kou-chan, you don't have to do this,” Junji said, lightly rubbing one thigh. “Sensei never should've suggested it in the first place.”

“It's not that,” the bassist said. A heavy sigh and his kouhai was moving to curl up beside him. “I thought ... if I'm only ever going to get this one chance to be with you.... But nothing's that simple, is it? You could be the worst lay in my life and it wouldn't matter, I'd still want more.”

“... I think I've just been insulted....”

“Mou, senpai!” the bassist whined, poking him in the side. “You know what I mean!”

“I do?” he asked, biting back a smile at the way his kouhai groaned and rolled closer to hide his face against his chest. Which might not have been the best idea, considering their topic of conversation. Chuckling softly, Junji combed fingers through red strands until the younger man shifted again, snuggling against him and using his shoulder for a pillow.

“I'd do it. I'm a good boyfriend, really I am, just ... well, you know how it is with band work. But I understand, I'm not your type and, well....”

“And?” he prompted softly, absently playing with his hair again.

“And I think there's someone else who called dibs?” Koudai said, chuckling a little. 

“That's not how it works and you know it. Dibs or no dibs, I decide who is my type, ne?”

“Mm, though I suspect Mahiro-senpai will see things differently.”

“... sensei told you about that bit, too?”

“Hmm? No, Mahiro-senpai sort of let it slip himself,” the bassist said with a low chuckle. “I'm a little jealous, to be honest. If nothing else, he gets to spend a lot more time with you than I ever could.”

“I know it's not a romantic love, but I do care for you, Kou-chan,” Junji said softly, turning to press a kiss to his forehead. “Any time you want someone to curl up on the couch and watch cheesy movies with you - or crappy horror movies or video games or whatever - if I can, I'll be there. Or here. Whichever.”

“Thank you, senpai,” the younger mumbled, snuggling himself even closer. Maybe it was too cruel to offer himself as a cuddle buddy when he knew that what Koudai wanted ran deeper than that, but there was nothing to be gained by being anything but completely honest with the man. And it was the truth. Maybe he couldn't be what Koudai - or Mahiro - wanted from him, but he could still offer that much affection. He'd leave it up to Koudai if he wanted to accept it or not.

~*~*~

If it had been a little too easy to convince Koudai to have breakfast with him the next morning, Junji wasn't complaining. For one thing, it made for a good excuse to make pancakes, something he didn't get to do all that often. Neither of them mentioned the aborted seduction attempt, though when it was time for the bassist to leave, Junji couldn't help but notice the way he lingered in their parting hug. He hoped that was a good sign, he didn't want things getting weird between them because of their different attractions.

He was maybe halfway through a side dungeon in one of his older games that he hadn't played in awhile when there was a knock on his door. Curious, he paused his game to see who could be at his door so early, even more surprised when Mahiro all but tackled him. 

“Mahi?” he asked, careful of his sudden attachment as he closed his front door. “Kitten, what is it? What's wrong?”

The singer shook his head and just clung to him. Stifling a sigh, he settled arms around the younger man and waited for him to get whatever it was out of his system, or at least for him to let go. 

“I've been circling the block for about an hour,” Mahiro mumbled, still clinging to him. “When I saw Koudai-kun leaving your building so early.... He spent the night here, didn't he. With you. Why? Why him? What's he got that I don't??”

“Kitten, what have I told you about making assumptions and jumping to conclusions,” he said with a soft sigh. “Nothing's changed, between him and me or between me and you. Come on, let go and I'll make us some tea.”

Mahiro huffed and he could practically feel the pouting even before he could see it, but the singer had let go of him and that was enough. Giving him a parting squeeze, Junji ducked into his kitchen to make a pot of tea for them both. He was a little surprised to come back to his lounge to find Mahiro curled up on his couch, playing his game.

“... you know, I was enjoying that,” he half teased, pouring their tea.

“You can't tell me you haven't done this dungeon at least twice before, Juju. This game is what, five years old now?”

“Oh shush,” he said, settling on the couch next to his friend. Mahiro hit the pause button and claimed his own cup of tea before scooting closer, snuggling himself against Junji's side. After last night, Junji found it even easier to slide an arm around his friend, smiling at the way Mahiro hummed at him.

“So ... breakfast with the kouhai becoming a thing for you now?” Mahiro asked after a few moments.”

“Well I wasn't going to send him away hungry.”

“Ever the thoughtful senpai....”

“ _Someone_ has to look after those boys,” he said, chuckling. He was pretty sure what Mahiro really wanted to know was if he had slept with their kouhai, but he wasn't going to just tell him that. Let the nosy kitten actually ask if he wanted to know so badly.

“I suppose it was silly to think it could have been anything else,” Mahiro said, sighing and finishing his tea. “As many times as sensei has scolded me about pushing you when you've said again and again that you aren't sexually attracted to men. It's just....”

Another sigh from his friend. Junji could have stayed silent, could have waited for Mahiro to work up the nerve to finish his sentence, but he had some idea how hard it had been for him to even say that much. A little mercy wouldn't be out of line.

“It's just that you love me as more than just a friend and you're afraid someone's going to take me away from you?”

Mahiro twisted around to blink up at him in surprise for a long moment, then sighed again and snuggled back up against him. “Yeah,” his friend confessed with another sigh, “something like that.”

“It's not the romantic love I know you want, kitten, but I do love you as a precious friend. Only a very special few get cuddles like this, you know,” he said, hugging him a little closer. “Can't this be enough?”

“I'm trying, Juju, really I am. I can't help it that I love you, I can't help it that I'm terrified someone else is going to come along and steal you away from me just because I don't have boobs.”

“Kitten, I'm not a possession.”

“I know, I know,” Mahiro sighed. “You aren't really mine and you never could be anyway, but ... it's not so easy to just stop feeling things.”

“I know,” he said, gently squeezing him again. “I'll always be here for you, kitten, I promise, even if it's just as a close friend.”

“Thank you, Juju.”

It wasn't the sort of answer Mahiro was wanting, he could read it in every line of their kitten vocalist's body, but it was what Junji had to offer. Maybe, with time, it would prove to be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is not quite the ending I'd imagined when I'd started writing this fic oh so long ago, but it's where things ended up, so, um, don't shoot me? /o\


End file.
